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IPriiLteil Vy- ReyiLoia* 



A 

COMPENDIUM 

OF THE 

HISTORY OF ALL NATIONS: 

EXHIBITING 

A CONCISE VIEW 

OF THE 

ORIGIN, PROGRESS, DECLINE AND FALL 

OF THE MOST 

CONSIDERABLE EMPIRES,; KINGDOMS, 
AND STATES IN THE WORLD, 

FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE PRESENT PERIOD. 
INTERSPERSED 

With a short account of the Prevailing Religions. 

Ornamented ivith a Frontispiece, representing 

HISTORY CONDUCTING PATRIOTISM, FORTITUDE AND 
WISDOM TO THE TEMPLE OF FAME. 

PERSONIFIED BY 

Generals Washington, Greene, and Hamilton; 

AND THREE OTHER PLATES. 

By D? FRASER, 

Author of the Columbian Monitor, Select Biography, &c. 



NEW-YOKK: 
PRINTED BY HENRY C. SOUTHWICK, 

NO. 2, WALL-STREET. 



1807. 



District of Next-York, ss. 

f.** **^ b e 1T Remembered, That on the seventeenth day of October, in 
5 ^* -J 'he thirty-seconcKyear of the Independence of the United States of 
******* America, Donald Fraser, of the said district, hath deposited in this 
office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as author, in the words fol- 
lowing, to wit : 

"A Compendium of the History of all Nations: exhibiting a concise view 
" ot the origin, progress, decline, and fall of the most considerable empires, 
" kingdoms, and states in the world, from the earliest times to the present 
" period.... interspersed with a short account of the prevailing religions. Or- 
" namented with a frontispiece, representing History conducting Patriotism, 
" Fortitude and Wisdom to the Temple of Fame — personified by Generals 
" Washington, Greene and Hamilton — and three other Pl.ites — By D. Fraser, 
" Author of the Columbian Monitor, Select Biography, &c " 

In conformity to the aft of Congress of the United States, entitled " An aft for 
" the encouragement of learning by securing the copies of maps, charts and 
" books to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein 
" mentioned," and also to an aft entitled "An aft supplementary to an aft en- 
" titled an aft for the encouragement of learning by securing the copies of 
" maps, charts and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies during 
" the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of 
;: designing, engraving and etching historical and other prints." 

EDWARD DUNSCOMB, 
Clerk of the DistriQ, of New-York, 



tf 



PREFACE 



THE great utility of an intimate knowledge of Histo- 
ry is universally admitted ; to young people it is highly 
essential, and should be studied by every one who would 
attain a liberal education. By tracing back the great 
events and revolutions of human affairs — the rise and 
fall of kingdoms and states — it will tend to expand the 
mind, enlarge the ideas, and render conversation more 
agreeable, interesting and instructive. 

History being the faithful repository of the actions of 
men in all ages, who have performed any distinguished 
part on the theatre of the world, adds to our own expe- 
rience a rich stock of the experience of others, and fur- 
nishes innumerable instances of virtues to imitate, and 
vices to be avoided : Every law of morality, and every 
rule of conduct, is submitted to its test and examina- 
tion. 

The accounts of the origin and progress in popula- 
tion of all countries, are involved in great obscurity. — 
It is little more than three thousand years since the 
books of Moses, the most ancient and the only genuine 
record of what passed in the early ages of the world, 



IV 



were written. Herodotus is the oldest of the heathen 
historians : he flourished a thousand years later than 
Moses. If we extend our enquiries beyond the aera 
when written history commenced, we enter upon the re- 
gion of conjecture, of fable, and uncertainty. 

In this publication, I have taken a progressive, brief, 
but comprehensive, view of the state of mankind from 
the earliest ages, of which we have any authentic ac- 
count, to the present period ; and have attempted to de- 
lineate the origin of States and Empires, the outlines of 
their history, the revolutions they have undergone, and 
the causes which contributed to their rise and splendour, 
as well as those which operated to their decline and ex- 
tinction. It is hoped that this work will prove an ac- 
ceptable remembrancer to those already well- versed 
in universal history ; and be of considerable service to 
such youth as aspire at becoming the future Legisla- 
tors and Statesmen of this country. 

In compiling this work I have had recourse to some 
of the best authorities in the English language ; parti- 
cularly the Rev. Do 'tors Mavor and Turner, and Mr. 
John Payne. Mr. John Crookes, of New- York, has also 
rendered me some valuable assistance. To these gentle, s 
men it is but common justice to acknowledge my 
warmest obligations for the aid which they have afford- 
ed me. 

D. FRASER. 



CONTENTS. 



Pages. 

The History of Mankind from the Creation to the Deluge, . 9 

From the Deluge to the Building of Babel, ..... 18 

Of Egypt, 33 

"Remarks relative to the difference of complexion in mankind, 42 

TJie Assyrian Empire, 45 

The Persian Monarchy, . . . . 48 

The Grecian Monarchy, 49 

Rome.... Under Kings and Consuls. — Punic Wars. ... 55 

The Gracchi Marius and Sylla Pompey and 

Caesar. ...Triumvirate of Octavianus...Mark Anthony and 

Lepidus, 60 

_— Under the Emperors.... Partition of the Empire under 

Dioclesian...Constantine transfers the seat of Empire, . 63 

— • Final division of the Empire between the sons of 



Constantine. Establishment of the Goths in Italy...,. 

Charlemagne, Emperor of the West....Fall of the Eastern 
Empire, ^ 



6 CONTENTS. 

PAGES* 

Germany.... Its ancient limits... .Conrad, the first Emperor.... 
Contentions between the Emperors and Popes.. ..Guelphs 

and Gibelincs... .Charles V The Peace of Westphalia, 71 

England. ...From its earliest period.. ..Heptarchy Norman 

Conquest. ....Plantagenets... .Conquest of Ireland Civil 

Wars of York and Lancaster. ...Reformation, .... 79 

. James I.. ..Charles I. ...Usurpation of Cromwell.... 

„ Charles II... James II... William III. ..Anne.. .George I... 

George II. ...George III 93 

A short delineation of the English constitution, . . . * 101 
Spain.... Under the Carthaginians. ...The Romans. ...The Van- 
dals... ..and the Moors Arragon and Castile under 

Ferdinand and Isabella. ...Expulsion of the Moors. ...Dis- 
covery of America, . 102 

Portugal.... Ancient Inhabitants. ..Discovery of the Portuguese 
in the Fifteenth Century ....Freed from the Spanish Yoke, 109 

Poland.... Situation Lech Dukes. ...Woy woods. ...Cracus 

Piast.... Third Race of Kings.. ..Demolition, . . . . 113 

Italy, 119 

Holland, 127 

Swisserland, 1 40 

1 The Ottoman or Turkish Empire, . . 14S 

Russia, 168 

The Northern Kingdoms of Siveden, Denmark and Norway, . 176 

China, .185 

Prussia... ..Original Inhabitants. ...Name... .Subdued by the 
Teutonic Knights... .Albert the first Duke... .Erected into a 

Kingdom, ......... 202 

France.... Under the Franks or Merovingian Race Carlovin- 

'giavi Rare. ...Charlemagne.. ..Invasion of the Normans.,.. 
Capetinn Race... .Conquest of France by the English, . . 206 



CONTENTS. 7 

PAGES. 

France... Assembly of the Notables... Junction of the Citi- 
zens and Soldiers.. ..Destruction of the Bastile.... Death of 
the King and Queen. ...War with England.. ..Death of the 
Dauphin. ...Descent of the French upon Egypt. ...The Eng- 
' Jish take the French fleet. ...Russians join the English and 

Austrians.. ..Various successes in Italy, 218 

Scotland, ....:..:..::;..•;: 224 

Scots and Picts Kenneth II Bruce and Baliol 

....The James's, 236 

Ireland, 255 

United States of America, 269 

Abyssinia, • 283 

Indostan, . • ... 291 

The Jeivs or Hebrews, . . . * . . 329 

Japan or Siphon, 333 

Venice, 3 64r 

A Chronological Table of Principal Events, from the Crea- 
tion to the present Period, -377 

Appendix. 



DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER. 



HtH 



Frontispiece to face the Title. 
Wisdom to front page 79. 
Female Captive to front page 205. 
Sir William Wallace to front page 264. 



AN 

EPITOME 



HISTORY OF ALL NATIONS. 



CHAPTER I. 



The History of Mankind from the Creation to the 
Deluge. 



Wi 



E shall commence our History with a concise ac- 
count of the cosmogony, according to Moses' inspired 
narration. 

j Of the first creation of the heaven and the earth there 
is no particular description in the sacred volume : nor 
was it requisite that the inspired author of the Penta- 
teuch should express hin self in any other terms than 
those which substantiate the important truth, that they 
were created by the immediate power of God. \ 

The earth, subsequent to the creation, was a dark 
and shapeless mass of matter ; but, at the sovereign 
command of the Almighty, the cheerful light appeared, 
the firmament expanded, to divide the upper from the 
lower waters; the congregated floods retired to their 
destined bed ; and the dry land was crowned with a rich 
profusion of herbage, fruits and flowers. 

These great occurrences having occupied the three 
first days, the succeeding one was devoted to an illumin- 
ation of the newly created globe : the face of heaven 



10 History of all Nations, 

was accordingly decorated with myriads of stars, and the 
greater luminaries were disposed so as to distinguish be- 
tween day and night ; and to divide the seasons of the 
year. 

The waters were then replenished with an abundant 
variety of fish ; the odoriferous air was fanned by the 
pinions of innumerable birds ; the verdant meads were 
stocked with cattle ; and every part of the earth was in- 
habited with appropriate tribes. To contemplate, and 
truly to excel the whole, God created man, on the sixth 
day, of the dust of the ground, and infused into his body 
the breath of life, or immortality ; in consequence of 
which, man became a living soul. Woman was also 
formed out of the side of the man, who was cast into a 
profound slumber for that purpose. 

{Thus,- by the creating influence of the Eternal Spirit, 
were the heavens and the earth finished in the space of 
six days, when that which at first was no other than an 
unformed chaos, exhibited so exquisite and beautiful a 
system, that the adorable Architect himself pronounced 
it very good, and all the sons of God shouted for joy\ 

God having contemplated with pleasure the work of 
his hands, placed the man and his wife, who were named 
Adam and Eve 7 in the garden of Eden (b. C. 4004) 
giving them instructions to dress and keep it, allowing 
them the free use of the fruit with which it abounded, 
with this single reservation, that they should abstain 
from the produce of a particular tree, denominated the 
tree of knowledge of good and evil, of which if they 
presumed to eat, they would incur the penalty of ine- 
vitable death. This declaration was made in the most 
solemn manner, and our progenitors were warned by 
their Creator to avoid the only danger that could befal 
them. 

Fortified with such a caution, and situated in a para- 
dise which God himself vouchsafed to honor with 
his immediate presence, Adam and his beloved wife were 
capable of enjoying all the blessings of creation, as 
well as the company and converse of their beneficent 
Maker, who is said to have brought every living creat- 



From the Creation to the Deluge. 11 

art to Adam, to see what he would call it, and to have* 
established those names which were then imposed by 
his especial favorite on the various objects presented to 
his view. 

Their felicity, however, appears to have been but of 
short duration, as the woman, being deceived by the 
subtilty of the serpent, violated the divine injunction in 
her own person, and afterwards enticed her husband to a 
participation of her crime. At this moment innocence 
forsook the human bosom ; and the hapless pair, who, 
though naked, had hitherto lived with each other un- 
conscious of shame, now perceived their situation with 
the utmost confusion, and made themselves aprons of 
fig-leaves to supply, in some degree, the want of raiment. 

When God, at the accustomed time of the day, re- 
peated his customary visit of love, an d was heard walk- 
ing in the garden, the self convicted offenders attempted 
to conceal themselves among the foliage of the trees ; 
and, on being called from their retreat, Adam alledged 
his nakedness as an apology for his disappearance. An 
explanation now ensued, producing a full confession on 
the part of the culprits, and terminating in the threatened 
reward of disobedience. The offended Deity, in pro- 
nouncing judgment, first cursed the. serpent above all 
beasts, condemning him to go on his belly ; assigning 
dust for his food ; and decreeing that a perpetual enmity 
should subsist between his seed and that of the woman, 
till, in the fulness of time, the latter should prove com- 
pletely victorious over his adversary : — Thus shadowing 
our redemption by a Saviour. The woman was con-^ 
demned to bring forth her tender offspring with excru- 
ciating pain, and to be subject to the dominion of her 
husband : and Adam was doomed to earn his bread by 
the sweat of his brow, in consequence of a curse, which 
God imposed on the ground, for his sake, declaring that 
it should bring forth thorns and thistles ; and that after 
much fatigue and toil, he, die offender, should return to 
the dust from whence he was originally taken. At the 
conclusion of this awful sentence, the Creator, temper- 
ing judgment with mercy, clothed his fallen creature s. 



12 History of all Nations, 

and compelled them to quit the confines of paradise^ 
lest, by imprudently eating of the fruit of the tree of 
life, they might render themselves and their ruined pro- 
geny eternally wretched. To av >id the possibility of 
such a circumstance, and to obliterate every thought of 
their return to their once blissful abode, a cherubim was 
stationed at the eastern extremity of the garden, with a 
flaming sword that turned every way, to guard the pas- 
sage to the tree of life. 

To what part of the earth the unhappy pair removed, 
in consequence of this expulsion, is uncertain ; but it 
appears that C in, the eldest son of Adam, was born in 
the first year of the world ; and the second, named Abel, 
the year following. These persons, notwithstanding 
their near affinity, soon discovered symptoms of the 
most opposite dispositions, the oldest being gloomy and 
avaricious, the youngest virtuous and ingenuous : their 
selected employments were also of a different nature ; 
Cain undertaking the labours of husbandry, and Abel 
preferring the care of the flocks. 

In process of time they brought their respective offer- 
ings to God, but with very different success ; for whilst 
the sacrifice of Abel, consisting of the firstlings of a 
flock, was graciously accepted, the fruits of the ground, 
presented by Cain, were disregarded. This occurrence 
was sufficient to rouse the native malevolence of the 
first-born, who was, accordingly, so transported with 
rage and envy, that he was unable to command his 
countenance on the mortifying occasion. The Deity 
condescended to expostulate with him upon the ab- 
surdity of his impious behaviour, demanding what rea- 
son he cculd produce in justification of his anger : and 
explicitly declaring that the refusal of his sacrifice re- 
sulted entirely from his own misconduct, without the 
slightest attempt of Abel to supplant him in the divine 
favour. 

i Cain's heart, however, was too stubborn to brook the 
reproof of his maker ; and, instead of profiting by his sal- 
■utarv counsel, he resolved to assassinate his brother 
the first convenient opportunity, and actually accom- 



From the Creation to the Deluge. 13 

plished his sanguinary intention, while conversing with 
his destined victim in the field. 

After the perpetration of this horrid deed (b. C. 3875) 
Cain being questioned by God respecting his brother, 
replied, in an evasive manner, that he knew not where he 
was, and churlishly asked, whether he was to be con- 
sidered as his brother's keeper ? But he was soon 
convinced of the omniscience of his holy Interrogator, 
who appalled his guilty soul with a full relation of his 
transgression, and solemnly condemned him to become a 
fugitive and vagabond on the earth, which, having recei- 
ved the martyr's blood, would henceforth withhold the 
blessings of her fertility from the hands of his murderer. 

This sentence, though comparatively lenient, was 
deemed so harsh by the criminal, that, in . n agony of 
grief, he exclaimed, it was insupportable, and, at the 
same time, intimated his apprehension of perishing by 
the hand of some fellow creature, in consequence of the 
wretched condition to which the Almighty had reduc- 
ed him. This fear, however, was immediately obviat- 
ed by a particular mark, imprinted on his person, as 
a token that no one should presume to molest him, under 
pain of a seven-fold punishment. 

Finding it impossible to obtain any other mitigation 
of his sentence, Cain departed from the place of his na- 
tivity, and settled with his family in the land of Nod, 
where he built a city, and called it after the name of his 
son Enoch. 

Shortly after the tragical scene of Cain's resentment, 
his afflicted parents were consoled by the birth of ano- 
ther son, to whom Eve gave the name of Seth, because 
he was appointed instead of the murdered Abel. 

The sacred historian, having confined himself chiefly 
to the line of Seth, relates but few particulars respecting 
that of the fratricide : it is, however, probable in itself, 
and consonant with assertions of profane authors, that 
his posterity were extremely iniquitous, and were, on 
that account designated in scripture by the name of men, 
and the daughters of men, whilst the religious children 
of Seth were honoured with the appellation of the Sons 
of God. 



14 History of all Nations, 

After recording the births of Enos, Cainan, Mahala- 
leel, and Jared, who are all extolled by the oriental wri- 
ters for their virtuous precepts and exemplary conduct, 
Moses presents us with the brief but interesting hisory 
of Enoch ; a person so truly pious, that he is said to 
have -walked with God for the space of three hundred 
years, and at the expiration of that time to have been 
translated to heaven, without tasting the bitter cup of 
death. 

Adam, after having beheld a numerous posterity issue 
from his own loins to people the earth, was at length 
compelled to sink beneath the destroying angel, whom 
himself had introduced by transgression into the world; 
and he accorclingly resigned his spirit into the hands of 
his Maker* in the nine hundred and thirtieth year of his 
age — (b. C. 3074.) The place of his sepulchre is not 
mentioned in scripture, yet various conjectures have 
been formed upon the subject. Thus the oriental chris- 
tians affirm that he was embalmed by four of his descen- 
dants, and deposited according to his desire, in a certain 
cave on the summit of a mountain : St, Jerome stations 
his remains in the cave of Machpelah ; and the general- 
ity of the primitive fathers suppose him to have been bu- 
ried on Mount Calvary, the very spot whereon Christ, 
the second Adam, voluntarily suffered in behalf of his 
fallen creatures. 

After the decease of Adam, historians inform us, 
that the children of Seth, abhorring the profligacy of 
Cain and his descendants, removed to the mountain 
where thebody was interred, and there devoted the great- 
est part of their time to the adoration of their Creator. 
It is also asserted by contemplation of the celestial bodies 
they here laid the foundation of astronomy, and engraved 
their inventions on two pillars, one of which was to be 
seen in the time of Josephus. At length, however, the 
integrity of these men was shaken by the enticing allure- 
ments and personal accomplishments of the daughters of 
Cain; and, in consequence of some intermarriages with 
that family, their manners gradually degenerated, till, at 
length, their wickedness was great in the earth, and ev* 



From the Creation to the Deluge. 15* 

ery imagination of their hearts was polluted with ini- 
quity. 

There were likewise in those days persons whose ex- 
traordinary strength and stature were equally remarkable 
with their acts of rapine and impiety i these were most 
probably the offspring of the murderer, both by father 
and mother, who tyrannised over the weak, by dint 
of superior power. A similar mode of conduct ap- 
pears to have been adopted by some others who are 
adverted to in holy writ under the appellation of mighty 
men, or men of renown. 

The wickedness of mankind now increased rapidly 
with the increasing population, and the earth was lite- 
rally filled with violence ; yet the forbearance of God 
was continued towards them, and he mercifully resolv- 
ed to grant them the space of one hundred and twenty 
years for repentance ; during which time he declared his 
spirit should strive with man, in order to awaken him 
to a sense of his depravity, and eventually to recal him 
to the paths of peace and virtue. 

It is here proper to remark, that, notwithstanding the 
general corruption, one man was found perfect in his 
generation, and walking humbly with his God. This 
person was JSoah the son of Lamech, who exerted him- 
self, on all occasions, to introduce a reformation both 
of worship and conduct ; and to this end undertook the 
laborious task of public admonition, warning his audi- 
tors of the fatal consequences that must result from their 
enormities. His zealous counsel was however treated 
with disdain, and the deluded race continued in the 
practice of every vice, till God is said to have been griev- 
ed at his heart for the reformation of his incorrigible 
creatures, and, at the end of their fruitless probation, to 
have decreed an universal deluge that should utterly de- 
stroy them, together with the birds of the air and the 
beasts of the field. From this tremendous sentence Noah 
and his family were excluded, having " found favour in 
the eyes of the Lord," and the venerable patriarch re- 
ceived instructions concerning a certain vessel which he 
was appointed to build for the preservation of his own 



16 History of all J\ations, 

family, and for such a quantity of animals of every spe- 
cies as would be sufficient to replenish the earth again, 
when the threatened flood should subside. 

In obedience to the divine command Noah undertook 
the construction of this vessel, mentioned in the scrip, 
tures by the name of the ark. With respect to its di- 
mensions we read, that its length was three hundred cu- 
bits, its breadth fifty, and its height thirty. Its form 
was that of an oblong square with a flat bottom, and a 
sloping room, elevated one cubit in the middle. It con- 
sisted of three stories, each of which, excluding the 
thickness of the floors, might be eighteen feet high, and 
was divided into separate apartments. It was, in all pro- 
bability, well supplied with light and air, and though it 
had neither sails nor rudder, it was admirably contrived 
for lying steadily on the surface of the water, and for 
thus preserving the lives of its various inhabitants. 

The appointed time of vengeance being come, and the 
ark completed, Noah went on board, in the year of the 
world sixteen hundred and fifty- six, with his wife, his 
sons and his daughters-in-law, taking with him all kinds 
of birds, beasts and reptiles, by pairs and by sevens, as 
he was expressly commanded ; while the rest of man- 
kind, regardless of his repeated warnings, continued to 
indulge in luxury and dissipation, till the flood came and 
overwhelmed them with a swift destruction ; for, in the 
self same day, were the fountains of the great deep bro- 
ken up, the windows of heaven were opened, and the 
inundation began to fall, which descended without in- 
termission forty days and forty nights. The waters also 
increased gradually during the space of five months, 
when they rose to the elevation of twenty-seven feet 
above the summits of the highest mountains. 

Towards the end of the ensuing month, Noah opened 
one of the windows of the ark, and sent forth a raven, 
which flew to and fro till the earth was dry, but afforded 
him no satisfactory intelligence; he therefore let 
out a dove three successive times, allowing seven 
days to elapse between each excursion. The first time 
she returned quickly, having found no place suffiU 



From the Creation to the Deluge. 17 

ciently firm to afford a resting place ; the second time 
she came back in die evening, bringing an olive leaf in 
her mouth, as a proof that the flood had greatly abated ; 
and the third time she returned no more. 

On the first day of the first month, or the twenty-third 
of October, the patriarch, who was now in the six hun- 
dred and first year of his age, removed the covering of 
his vessel, in order to take a view of the surrounding 
scenery, and discovered that the surface of the earth 
was perfectly free from water ; he continued, however, 
in the ark till the twenty-seventh of the second month, 
or the eighteenth of December, when he came forth, in 
pursuance of the Divine Command, together with his 
wife, his family, and every living creature which had 
been intrusted to his care for one year and ten days, ac- 
cording to the antideluvian computation, or during the 
space of three hundred and sixty- five of our present 
time. 

Having thus given a concise account of the universal 
deluge, with a strict regard to the word of God, we 
feel it our duty to lay such particulars before our rea- 
ders as, being gathered from profane authors, may afford 
collateral evidence of this dreadful catastrophe. 

The Chaldeans supposed this event to have happened 
in the reign of Xisthrus, who being warned in a dream 
that mankind should be destroyed by a flood, built a 
vessel of extraordinary dimensions, and by that means 
preserved himself and his family from ruin, besides a 
variety of fowls and quadrupeds that were recommended 
by Saturn to his protection. This vessel rested on a 
mountain, after being 365 days on the water. Xisthrus 
came out with all his companions, and raised an altar, 
whereupon he sacrificed to the gods. 

The Egyptians were no strangers to this general 
destruction by water. The history of Osiris and I'yphon 
mentions the very day when Osiris was shut up in the 
ark ; the name of Typhon signifies a deluge, in conse- 
quence of which the Egyptian Priests gave that name to 
the sea. The inhabitants of Heliopolis in Syria are said 

c 



18 History of all Nations', 

to have shewn a chasm in the earth in the temple of Juno, 
Which swallowed up the waters of the deluge. 

The classical writers had evidently some traditionary 
account of a general deluge, from which, according to 
Ovid, Deucalion and Pyrrha alone were saved. 

The Chinese also have some notions of the flood, and 
of the providential escape of a single family from its 
destroying effects. The American Aborigines are said 
to acknowledge its reality. 



CHAPTER II. 

The General History jrom the Deluge to the Confusion 
of Tongues at Babel, b. C. 2347. 

IMPRESSED with the most lively gratitude to the 
Author of his existence, Noah, immediately upon his 
landing, erected an altar, and offered a burnt sacrifice 
of every clean beast and of every clean fowl. This act 
of piety proved highly acceptable to God, who graciously 
affirmed, that he would no more curse the earth for 
man's sake ; but, on the contrary, it should retain all 
its privileges, and enjoy an uninterrupted succession of 
seasons, till the period of its final dissolution. The pa- 
triarch was also honored with the divine blessing, and 
received permission to appropriate all living creatures to 
his own use, and to eat of them as freely as of the fruits 
and herbs of the earth : he was, however, strictly com- 
manded to abstain from the blood of animals, and to 
avoid shedding that of man. 

God likewise vouchsafed, on this memorable day, 
to make a solemn covenant with his favorite mortals, 
respecting the future safety of the habitable globe ; and 
promised, as a sacred token of his inviolable decree, to 
set his bow in the clouds when it rained, that the posteri- 
ty of Adam might look on it, and contemplate the ef- 
fects of his sovereign mercy. 



From the Deluge to the Building of Babel. 19 

Having received the warmest blessings and the most 
inestimable marks of affection from his appeased Creator, 
Noah descended from the mountain, applied himself to 
husbandry, and planted a vineyard. At the time of the 
vintage he became inebriated with the juice of the grape, 
and lay carelessly uncovered within his tent. In this 
situation he was discovered by his son Ham, who im- 
mediately hastened to inform his brothers of the cir- 
cumstance, and invited them to behold the disgraceful 
situation of their parent. 

Shem and Japhet were, however, too modest in 
themselves, and too tender of the patriarch's honour, to 
comply with such a request; and, therefore, having pro- 
vided themselves with a garment, they went backward, 
and covered their father with filial decorum : in return 
for which they were remunerated with an ample blessing, 
whilst the posterity of Ham were loaded with the most 
dreadful curses. 

Subsequent to the recital of these particulars, Moses 
informs us that the patriarch paid the debt of nature in 
the nine hundred and fiftieth year of his age ; and the 
eastern nations have a tradition that he was buried in 
Mesopotamia, where they shew his sepulchre, in a castle 
near Dair Abunah, or " the monastery of our Father." 

Japhet, the eldest son of Noah, (b. C. 1998) was 
particularly blessed by that patriarch, for his pious be- 
haviour, in these terms : — " God shall enlarge Japhet, 
and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan 
shall be his servant." This appears to have been spoken 
in the spirit of prophecy, and has been fully accom- 
plished in the great possessions which fell to the poste- 
rity of Japhet in different parts of the world : in the over- 
throw of the Assyrian empire by the Medes, in conjunc- 
tion with the Babylonians ; and, finally, in the subjuga- 
tion of the Canaanites, the Babylonians, the Egyptians, 
and other descendants of Ham, to the children of his 
eldest brother. 

Of the children of Shem there is little more to be col- 
lected from scripture than their names and the ages of 
the patriarchs in the line of Peleg, till we come to Tera* 



20 History of all J\ations, 

the father of Abraham ; we must therefore have occasi- 
onal recourse to the conjectures and tradition of Jewish 
and christian writers, where we shall find some particu- 
lars worthy of attention. 

The birth of Shcm must have happened in the year of 
the vvorld 1558, as, at the birth of A;phaxad, two years 
al.er the deluge, he was one hundred years old. The 
only action ol his life recorded by Moses, is that which 
he performed with his brother Japhet, and for which he 
obtained the blessing of his father. He is said to have 
lived fi e hundred and two j ears after the flood, and to 
have died in the six hundredth 3 ear of his age, leaving 
behind him live sons ; viz. Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, 
Lud, and Aram ; the second of whom became the 
founder of the Assyrian kingdom, according to this ex- 
press declaration of Moses — " Out of the land (Shinaar) 
went forth Ashur, and built Nineveh and the city of 
Rehoboth, and Calah, and Resen, between Nineveh and 
Calah, the same is a great city." 

Elam may probably have been intended by the more 
modern Persian historians, when they asserted that their 
first king Caumarras, was a son of Shem, and this idea is 
strictly consonant to the Mosaic accounts. 

Arphaxad had once considerable advantage above his 
brethren, in having the patriarchal line continued in him. 
Many authors derive both the name and nation of the 
Chaldeans from this person ; and Josephus concurring 
in the same opinion, assures us, that he was the prince 
of the Arphaxadeans, at present called Chaldeans. It 
has been already observed, that he was born in the year 
of the world 1658, and it appears from the sacred records 
that he lived to the age of four hundred and thirty-eight 
years. 

As we find no circumstance related in scripture re- 
specting the other sons, viz. Lud and Aram, we shall 
dismiss our remarks en his family, and return to that of 
Noah, whose youngest son, Ham, now demands our 
attention. When Noah was acquainted with the indeli- 
cacy of his son's conduct, he pronounced a heavy curse, 
not indeed against the offender himself, but against a 



From the Deluge to the Building of Babel. 21 

branch of his posterity — " Cursed," says the patriarch, 
" be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto his 
brethren." Thisj;curse falling upon a son of Ham ra- 
ther than upon himself, has occasioned many conjec- 
tures among the learned. Some have supposed that 
Noah expressed himself in this manner to avoid cursing 
Ham, whom God had so recently blessed on his quitting 
the ark ; others are for extending the curse both to 
Ham and his descendants, whom they therefore consider 
as the progenitors of the blacks ! and a third class ima- 
gine, with a greater appearance of truth, that Moses \ by 
reciting his prediction, designed to raise and invigorate 
the spirits of the Israelites, who were appointed to engage 
and finally vanquish the children of Canaan, previous to 
their complete possession of the promised land. 

Ham, in consequence of his undutiful behaviour on 
an occasion which should rather have excited his com- 
passion than his ridicule, has been considered by the 
generality of authors a? the first introducer of irr.riety 
after the deluge ; and the infamous character attached 
to his name in their writing, is perfectly consistent with 
Sanchoniatho''s account of Gronus, who is supposed to . 
have been the same person. 

Canaan, whom, according to scripture, we may sup- 
pose to have been the fourth son of Ham, is believed to 
have lived and died in the country distinguished by his 
name, where his tomb was formerly shewn in a cave of 
the mountain of Leopa; ds, at a small distance from Je- 
rusalem. We are equally at a loss to ascertain the time 
of his birth, and the length of his life, neither of these 
circumstances being mentioned by Moses. Some wri- 
ters, however, have ventured to affirm, that he was born 
in the ark, and that being the fruit of unseasonable in- 
continence, he was himself a profligate man. That part 
of Noah's curse, which foretold the humiliation of Ca- 
naan, as becoming a servant of servants to his brethren, 
seems to have been wholly accomplished in him, with- 
out extending to the rest of his brethren ; with respect 
to Shem, it was fulfilled in the memorable victories of 
the Israelites, and the subsequent achievements of the 



22- History of all Nations , 

Assyrians and Persians ; and with regard to Japhet, we 
see a completion of the prophecy in the successive con- 
quests of the Canaanites by the Greeks and Romans, in 
Palestine and Phenicia, but more especially by the total 
subjugation of the once haughty and flourishing sons of 
Carthage. 

Canaan seems to have been known to the ancient hea- 
thens, Sanchoniatho gives the name of Chna to the first 
man who was called a Phenician. 

Nimrod, the sixth son of Cush, is mentioned in the 
book of Genesis as a mighty one on the earth, and a 
mighty hunter before the Lord ; and we are there told 
that " the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, 
Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinaar." These 
words seem clearly to imply that he was a person of un- 
common strength and courage. The term a mighty 
hunter, has been variously interpreted ; some under- 
standing that he was a great tyrant, and others account- 
ing him a virtuous prince, who, being naturally of a mar- 
tial disposition, and ambitious of distinguishing himself 
by his valour, armed a number of vigorous young men, 
and, by training them to the toils of the chase, rendered 
them equal to the task of braving danger with unshaken 
intrepidity. 

Nimrod is supposed to have been the first man who 
obtained the regal dignity after the flood : (b. C. 1998) 
and the four cities mentioned by Moses constituted an 
extensive kingdom in those early times, when few kings 
could boast of more than one. By what means he ac- 
quired the sovereignty we are unable to determine, but it 
was most probably by the force of arms ; in consequence 
of which we suppose Ashur to have been driven from 
Shinaar, when he went and formed Nineveh, and other ci- 
ties in Assyria. Various conjectures have been formed, 
concerning the time and manner of Nimrod's death ; 
some pretending that he fell by the hand of Esau, whom 
they make his contemporary ; and others affirming that 
he perished amidst the ruins of Babel, which was over- 
thrown by a violent hurricane. Scripture is, however, 
silent upon these points ; and the ancient traditions, va« 



From the Deluge to the Building of Babel, f3 

rying from each other, afford at best an uncertain autho- 
rity. 

It is now requisite that we should return to the imme- 
diate descendants of Noah, who after the decease of their 
father, thought proper to quit the vicinage of Mount 
Ararat, and to establish themselves and their families on 
some other part of the earth. With this design they tra- 
velled from the east till they arrived at a plain in the land 
of Shinaar, which they immediately designed for their 
future abode. On this spot, which proved sufficiently 
attractive to terminate their journey, they resolved to 
erect a city, and a tower whose top might aspire to hea- 
ven, for the express purpose of avoiding the dispersion 
of their families. The building was accordingly begun, 
bricks being used instead of stone, and slime or bitumen 
supplying the want of mortar ; but God, whose infinite 
wisdom had decreed the welfare of his creatures by the 
very circumstance which the builders attempted to elude, 
compelled them to relinquish their project, by confound- 
ing their language, so that one could not understand 
what another said. The city now took the name of Ba- 
bel, or confusion, and the dispersion of mankind imme- 
diately ensued. 

Prior to this important event, which, according to 
the Hebrew calculation, happened just before the birth 
of Peleg, in the year of the flood 101, all mankind spoke 
the same language and lived together in one body ; but 
it now became indispensably necessary that they should 
divide themselves according to their respective tongues 
and families, in order to people the earth. 

This disposition and the subsequent planting of nations 
were performed in the most orderly manner ; for we are 
informed with regard to the sons of Japhet, that, "By 
these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; 
every one aftrr their families, after their tongues, in their 
nations. " The account given of the sons of Ham ends 
in a similar manner, " These are the sons of Ham, after 
their families, after their tongues, in their countries, in 
their nations :" and that of the sons of Shem terminates 
thus ; " These are the sons of Shem, after their families, 



24 History of all Nations, 

after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations." 
All which texts serve to corroborate and justify our as- 
sertion. Notwithstanding, some writers have imagined 
that the first plantations were made without any method 
or regularity, every colony being settled by chance, 
and each individual seizing on his portion as chance or 
caprice directed. 

Allowing Shem. to have spent the remainder of his life 
after the confusion of tongues in Shinaar, we may endea- 
vor to follow his descendants in their migration. There 
were seven chiefs of his line, concerned in the dispersion, 
viz. his five sons already mentioned, Selah the son of 
Arphaxad, and Eber the son of Selah, who seem to have 
settled from Media westward to the sea coast of Aram 
or Syria. 

Elam fixed his habitation in the country of Elam, 
lying to the southeast of Shinaar. Ashur's territory, 
first distinguished by his name, and known to the Greeks 
by the name of Assyria, we find lying contiguous to 
Elam's, on the west or northwest. Arphaxad seems to 
have settled in Chaldea, where his descendants continu- 
ed till the time of Abraham ; yet some authors have as- 
signed him a place in Arrapacitus, a province of Assyria, 
and others who confound him with Canaan, pronounce 
him founder of the Chinese monarchy. Selah the son of 
Arphaxad, might very probably have settled in Chaldea, 
where we suppose there was sufficient room for his pos- 
terity till the time of Abraham ; and for similar reasons 
we imagine the abode of Eber to have been in the same 
country. With respect to Lud, we are totally unable to 
ascertain the seat of his habitation, he is indeed fixed by 
Josephus in Lydia ; but it appears needless that he 
should have wandered so far from his friends, and the 
ancient name of the Lydians is a strong objection 
against this opinion. Aram, the youngest son of Shem, 
obtained the countries of Mesopotamia and Syria, 
which, exclusive of Phenicia and Palestine, compre- 
hended all the territories westward of Assyria as far as 
the Mediterranean ; and Aram's name is accordingly 
given in scripture both to the whole of these countries, 
and their several regions. 



From the Deluge to the Building of Babel. 25 

Within or near ihe land of Aram the. four sons of 
Aram may be supposed to have had their respective fam- 
ilies. It is generally believed that, Uz, the eldest, founded 
city of Damascus, and gave his name to the circumja- 
cent country : Hul, is stationed by Bochart in Cholobe- 
tene, a part of the greater Armenia : Gether may be al- 
lowed a seat near the river Centrites, between Armenia 
and the Carduchi ; and Mcsheck is said to have nxed in 
Armenia, near the mountain of Masius, which is com- 
monly supposed to be the same with Ararat. 

Ham is supposed to have quitted Shinaar, on the ill 
success of the popular undertaking, and to have obtained 
the sovereignty of Phenicia ; this opinion is at least con- 
sistent with the idea of Ham and Cronus being the same 
person ; but, according to those who imagine him the 
same with Menes, he must have reigned in Egypt, 
which is indeed frequently mentioned in scripture by the 
name of the land of Ham : But as we have no positive 
authority to decide these points, we shall proceed to the 
consideration of his descendants. Cush, his eldest son, 
is mentioned by the ancients as the father of the Ethio- 
pians, who in the time of Josephus was generally distin- 
guished by the name of Cusheans. Yet, from various pas- 
sages of holy writ, wc are rather inclined to suppose 
that he seated himself in the south eastern part of Baby- 
lonia, and in the adjoining part of Susiana, still called 
Khuzestan, or the land of Chuz ; from whence his des- 
cendants in the succeeding ages migrated to Arabia ; 
though it is now extremely difficult to fix the quarters of 
any of them with precision. 

With respect to the nations descended from Mizraim, 
the second son of Ham, we briefly observe, that the 
Ludeni are supposed to be the people above Egypt, at 
present known by the name of Abyssinians. The Leha- 
bim are judged to be the Lybians of Cyrenaica : die 
Naphtuhim are said to have settled in Marmarica : The 
Philistines originally settled in Egypt, and afterwards re- 
moved into Canaan : and the Caphtorims are regard- 
ed by all the fathers as the Cappadocians. 

All we can collect from scripture relative to Japhet is, 



26 History of all Nations. 

that he retired with his family from Shinaar, and fixed 
his habitation to the north of the countries occupied by 
the children of Shem. 

Gomer, his eldest son, is mentioned by Josephus as 
the father of the Gomerites, or Gauls of Asia Minor, 
who inhabited a part of Phrygia : Magog, in all proba- 
bility, settled on an isthmus between the Euxine and 
Caspian Seas : Madia, is generally supposed to have 
planted Media ; Javan probably took up his abode near 
Ionia, in the south west part of the lesser Asia : Tubal 
and Mesheck are supposed to have resided near their 
brother Magog : and Tiras is universally believed to 
have led his colony to Thrace. 

Having thus given a concise account of the nations 
concerned in the first dispersion of mankind, we shall 
now take a retrospective view of some particulars which 
have been hitherto omitted in order to preserve the 
thread of our narrative entire. 

The history of the antediluvians, particularly with re- 
gard to their religion, policy, arts and sciences, would cer^ 
tainly be considered as a subject of great value, were it 
passible to expatiate upon these points with strict regard 
to truth ; but as the sacred volume affords but little 
whereon we might ground our assertions, and the page 
of profane history is clouded with fable, we must can- 
didly acknowledge that our remarks are founded chiefly 
upon conjecture. 

With regard to the religious rites of the primeval 
race of men, we can only venture to affirm, that they of- 
fered sacrifices, both of animals and of the fruits of the 
earth ; yet, some writers have attempted to prove that all 
the patriarchs, from Adam, had times and places set 
apart for the celebration of divine worship (their Sab- 
bath was certainly instituted immediately after the crea- 
tion, nor is it likely that its observance was ever wholly 
discontinued) and devoted a portion of their property 
to the maintainance of their priests. 

Their politics and civil constitutions are hid in impen- 
etrable darkness, and consequently afford no foundation 
even for conjecture. It is, however, probable, that the 



From the Deluge to the Building of Babel. 27 

patriarchal form of government was set aside by tyranny 
and oppression ; and that this change took place among 
the descendants of Cain rather than those of Seth. We also 
imagine that their communities were but few, and con- 
sisted of vast numbers of people, previous to the union 
of the families of Seth and Cain ; and that all mankind, 
subsequent to that imprudent junction, constituted but 
one great nation, divided into several disorderly associa- 
tions, and living in a state of anarchy, which indisputa- 
bly tended to contaminate the thoughtless race with an 
universal depravity of manners. 

Even with regard to their arts and sciences but little 
can be said ; as they appear rather to have devoted their 
time to luxury and dissipation, than to useful discove- 
ries or mental improvement. The last generation of 
Cain's line found out the art of working metal ; and 
music seems to have been invented about the same 
time. 

The antediluvian world is commonly supposed to have 
been exceedingly different from that which we now in- 
habit, and to have been stocked with a greater number 
of inhabitants than the present earth is capable of con- 
taining : and, indeed, this idea seems tolerably well 
founded, when we consider the surprizing length of 
men's lives previous to the deluge, and the numerous 
generations that were then contemporary. 

Various causes have been assigned by different au~ 
thors for this longevity. Some imputing it to the sobri- 
ety of the antediluvians, and the extreme simplicity of 
their diet : — others supposing that it resulted from the 
peculiar excellence of the plants, herbs, and fruits, that 
were first appointed for the subsistence of the human 
race ; and others asserting that it was the natural conse- 
quence of a strong and vigorous constitution. 

Each of these opinions may be considered as partak- 
ing of the truth, though in reality they will not bear the 
test of strict examination: for, if we readily admit the 
idea that some, or even many, of the antediluvians were 
remarkable on account of their temperance and simplici- 
ty ', we must of necessity acknowledge, that the majority 



28 History of all Nations, 

of them were strangers to these virtues, at a time when 
they are said to have been eating and drinking, marrying, 
and giving in marriage, till the flood came and swal- 
lowed them up. 

The longevity of the antediluvians cannot justly be 
attributed to the wholesome or nutritious virtues of the 
vegetable world. As to the opinion that the long lives 
of these men were but natural consequences of the pe- 
culiar strength of their stamina, or first principles of their 
bodily constitutions, we are willing to receive it as a 
concurrent though not an adequate cause : for Shem, 
who received his birth before the deluge, and possessed 
all the virtues of the antediluvians, fell short of the age 
of his forefathers by three hundred years, because the 
greater part of his life was passed after his egression 
from the ark. 

From these considerations, therefore, we are inclined 
to impute this longevity rather to the salubrious constitu- 
tion of the antediluvian air than to any other cause ; and, 
upon the supposition that this air became contaminated 
and unwholesome after the flood, it will appear consistent 
that the pristine crasis of the human body should have 
been gradually broken ; and that the life of man should 
consequently have been shortened in successive ages, to 
the present common standard. 

Whether men were permitted to regale on the flesh of 
animals before the flood, is a question that has been long 
and frequently controverted. Those who imagine it 
was unlawful before that period, found their opinion upon 
God's assigning vegetables for food to man and beasts 
at the creation ; and upon the express permission which 
Noah received to eat flesh after the deluge : and those 
who entertain a contrary opinion, imagine that animal 
food was included in the general grant of dominion gi- 
ven to Adam over the fish of the sea, the fowl of the air, 
and every living thing that moveth upon the earth : and, 
indeed, this supposition receives a great degree of 
strength from the facts that beasts were divided into 
clean and unclean before the flood j and that animals were 
sacrificed to the Deity. 



From the Deluge to the Building of Babel. 29 

With regard to commerce, it was, in all probability, 
carried on before the flood with greater facility than af- 
terwards ; as there was but one language in the world. 
Yet, it is evident, they had no idea of navigation, and of 
extending heir trade to remote parts by the assistance 
of any kind of vessels ; or otherwise some families might 
certainly have escaped the flood besides that of the pa- 
triarch Noah. 

It has already been observed, that the first form of 
government was patriarchal; and, indeed, when we con- 
template the honour that is due from a child to a parent, 
and the natural propensity which children have to ap- 
ply to a parent's authority for the decision of their dis- 
putes, and the termination of their little dissensions, it 
is sufficiently obvious that the descendants of the pa- 
triarchs would voluntarily submit, when grown up, 
to the government and authority of their father ; and it 
was certainly impossible to fix the liberties, peace, and 
fortunes of a family in greater security than while they 
continued in the hands of a tender and affectionate pa- 
rent. 

Considering Noah as the common father of the new 
world during his lfe, we may suppose that his posterity 
regarded him as their supreme governor, and that his 
sons Shem, Ham, and Japhet, were chief rulers of their 
respective branches in particular, as their sons again 
were heads or governors of their particular families un- 
der their fathers ; and in case of any dispute between the 
three chief families, an appeal must have been made to 
Noah, as the only common and acknowledged um- 
pire. 

This unity of government was however dissolved at 
the death of Noah, and mankind were consequently di- 
vided into three great parties, which, having lost their 
common ruler, regarded themselves as independent of 
each other, and acknowledged one supreme governor to 
lead each separate party. Upon the decease of these 
chiefs, their descendants were again divided in their po- 
litical state ; and thus, by degrees, they became ranged 
under several independent rulers, which seems to have 



36 History of all Motions, 

been the state of the world for a considerable time 
after the confusion of tongues, and the consequent dis- 
persion. 

But when the increasing families began to extend 
their plantations, and to build towns or villages, it be- 
came indispensably necessary that the government of 
each society should be settled in one person, who might 
re-unite the chiefs under the same authority, and exe- 
cute such laws as were best adapted to the peace and 
prosperity of the community. The recollection of the 
patriarchal government, and the happy effects which re- 
sulted from it, were sufficiently impressed on the minds 
of the people, to induce them to elect a single ruler, who 
was accounted worthy of dominion for his paternal care 
and tenderness, rather than to trust their welfare to the 
hands of several individuals, who might be influenced by 
party prejudice, or distracted by a diversity of counsel 
and opinions. 

In this beginning of political societies, almost every 
town was governed by its respective sovereign, who 
being attentive to the welfare of his subjects rather than 
the aggrandisement of his own name, restrained his am- 
bition within the precincts of his own dominions, with- 
out attempting to invade or annoy his neighbours. 
Sometimes, however, the jealousy of a more powerful 
prince, a martial inclination, or some inevitable dispute, 
led these monarchs to the field of battle, from whence 
they seldom returned till one party was completely van- 
quished, and his possessions were added to those of the 
conqueror, who, elated with victory, or thirsting for fu- 
ture glory, led forth his combatants to other enterprizes, 
and by uniting several territories, formed a kingdom of 
greater or smaller extent, in proportion to his ambition, 
ability, and success. 

These first conquerors regulated their mode of beha- 
viour at these times according to their different inter- 
ests and dispositions. Some of them regarding the objects 
of their conquests as creatures unworthy the smallest com- 
forts of nature, plundered them of all their possessions, and 
condemned them to languish out the remainder of their 



From the Deluge to the Building of Babel. 31 

days in wretchedness, labour, and disgrace ; an oppres- 
sion which first introduced the distinction between free- 
men and slaves. But the wisest and most politic of 
those men, who carried war into foreign countries, con- 
ciliated the esteem of the vanquished, by treating them 
as subjects instead of slaves, and granting them a full par- 
ticipation of those comforts that were lodged in the 
hands of the conquerors. By this method the fire of 
animosity was soon extinguished, every prejudice was 
gradually obviated, and the interests of the contend- 
ing parties were finally united. 

Upon the supposition that Ham is designed by the 
Cronus of the Phenician history, it will appear that am- 
bition began to make some disturbance in the earth even 
during the life of Noah, who was expelled from his set- 
tlement by his ungrateful son. But the first act of usur- 
pation recorded in the sacred volume, is that of Nim- 
rod, who plundered Ashur of his possessions, and com- 
pelled him to remove from Shinaar into Assyria. This 
revolution, however, which is supposed to have hap- 
pened about thirty years after the dispersion, extended 
no further than to some of the newly planted nations. In 
those settlements which lay at a greater distance, it is 
probable that a simplicity prevailed during several: ages, 
and that wars did not arise among them till the increas- 
ing colonies began to press upon each other, and to ex- 
perience that inconvenience which results from a con- 
fined situation. 

It is but reasonable to suppose that Noah and his fa- 
mily were acquainted with some of the arts and inven- 
tions of the antediluvians ; and it is extremely proba- 
ble that they explained such particulars to their descend- 
ants as were most useful in common life. But it seems 
unlikely that any of the finer arts or more speculative 
sciences should have been improved in any degree till a 
considerable time after the dispersion; and we must 
readily admit, that many inventions were swept from the 
face of the earth by the destroying deluge, and that a 
great length of time must of necessity have been re- 
quired to restore those arts, and to polish the manners of 



32 History of all J\atiom, 

those persons who, on their first settling in a new coun- 
try, found sufficient employment in cultivating the land 
for their subsistence, and erecting habitations for the 
convenience of their families, without designing any far- 
ther improvements. They were also frequently obliged 
to wander from one place to another, in quest of a more 
convenient residence, and therefore it is sufficiently ob- 
vious that a considerable time must have elapsed pre- 
vious to the erection of towns and cities, and the subse- 
quent settlements of provinces and kingdoms. 

Commerce, though rendered extremely difficult by 
the confusion of tongues, was nevertheless carried on 
with vigour after the dispersion ; as the necessities of 
men were greatly increased by their separation, and 
those who settled in new countries finding the want of 
many conveniences they had left behind them, and at 
the same time discovering many valuable productions in 
their own settlement, were induced to visit the parts in 
which they had formerly resided, for the purpose of ex- 
changing their newly discovered commodities for such 
articles as they stood in need of : and by this means the 
first foundation seems to have been laid for foreign com- 
merce, which soon diffused itself in such a manner as to 
supercede the greatest obstacles, and finally to suggest the 
idea of navigation, which has rendered the faithless and 
tempestuous ocean subservient to the interests and ac- 
commodation of distant nations. 

It may perhaps be expected that we shall now enter 
into the much controverted subjects of what language 
was generally spoken before the building of Babel ; in 
what manner the memorable confusion of tongues was 
effected, and how many languages were thenfoimed. 
This being a dry and useless controversy, we shall merely 
observe ; — that in all probability the Hebrew tongue was 
that which God first gave to his creatures, or at least 
we may venture to affirm, that if the Hebrew cannot sub- 
stantiate its claim, the primitive language was entirely 
lost at Babel. With respect to the manner in which the 
memorable confusion was effected, 'here is no doubt but 
it was the immediate act of God, who is solemnly de- 



Egypt. 33 

scribed by Moses as coming down to view the builders, 
and to accomplish his great design ; and as to the num- 
ber of languages then formed, we confess ourselves un- 
able to resolve the question, and deem it of too little 
importance to occupy either our time or attention. All 
we know from good authority, is, that the Hebrew, Sy- 
riac, and Egyptian languages were formed as early as 
the time of Jacob : and it seems probable, that the lan- 
guages of the chief families were fundamentally different 
from each other, though the dialects between each 
branch had a mutual affinity ; a variation which seems 
well adapted to bring about the designs of the Almighty, 
relative to the division of mankind into societies, com- 
monwealths, and kingdoms. Mavor. 

CHAPTER III. 

INTRODUCTORY TO EGYPT. 

WE come now to the description of a country, which 
has always held a distinguished rank in history, and was 
once celebrated above all others for its antiquities, learn- 
ing, opulence, and fertility. Such, however, is the mu- 
tability of all sublunary things, that its present bears lit- 
tle resemblance to its former state ; and those who read 
the ancient and modern accounts of Egypt, can scarcely 
believe that they appertain to the same country. Its 
learning is changed to ignorance, its opulence to poverty, 
and its fertility to frequent scarcity. Yet Egypt affords 
matter for admiration and pity ; the explorer of nature, 
and admirer of art, may gratify the most boundless cu- 
riosity, in contemplating its wonderful productions 
and the stupendous remains of the most amazing 
works of art with which this country abounds. At the 
same time their compassion will be excited by the pre- 
judic.es that the people have imbibed, and the oppression 
beneath which they live. No country in the universe 
has undergone greater revolutions ; and, consequently, 
the description of none can be more gratifying to the ge- 
neral taste, or more interesting to every passion incident 
to the human soul. 



34 History of all Nations, 

EGYPT. 

Egypt has the Mediterranean sea on the north, Abys- 
sinia on the south, the desert of Barca and unknown 
parts of Africa on the west, and the Red Sea on the 
east. It is 600 miles in length, and nearly 300 in 
breadth. 

The Egyptians, like the Chinese, and many other of 
the eastern nations, maintain that they had a race of 
kings, the first of whom reigned many thousand years 
before the flood. However, it is generally agreed, that 
the princes of the line of the Pharaohs sit on the throne, 
in an uninterrupted succession, till Cambyses II. king of 
Persia, conquered Egypt, 525 years before the birth of 
Christ : and that in the reign of this race of princes 
those wonderful structures were raised, which cannot 
now be viewed without astonishment; and of which some- 
thing will be said hereafter. After the death of Camby- 
ses, Egypt continued under the Persian governmentun- 
tii Alexander the Great subdued that empire, when it be- 
came subject to that prince, who soon after built the ce- 
lebrated city of Alexandria. That wonderful man pos- 
sessed talents which qualified him not merely to con- 
quer, but to govern the world, had not his pas- 
sions enslaved him when every thing external was sub- 
dued ; yet the noble plans which his original and bold 
conceptions formed, caused a revolution in the commerce 
of the world, equally wonderful as his conquests, and 
much more permanent. After he had subdued and sub- 
verted Tyre, he caused its commerce to be transferred 
to Alexandria, which soon became the centre of the East 
India trade. 

Alexander was succeeded by Ptolemy , the son of 
Lagus, 325 years before Christ, who again rendered 
Egypt an independent kingdom, which it continued to 
be for the space of 250 years. Ptolemy Philadelphus, 
his son, collected the Alexandrian library, said to con- 
sist of seven hundred thousand volumes ; and the same 
prince caused that translation of the Scriptures to be made 
into Greek, which is now distinguished by the name of 



Egypt 35 

" the Septuagint." His successors ever after retained 
the name of Ptolemies, and in that line it continued, un- 
til Cleopatra, the wife and sister of Ptolemy Dionysius, 
the last king, ascended the throne, in whose reign Egypt 
Was rendereda Roman povince, by Augustus, A. D. 50, 
and thus remained till the reign of Omar, the second 
caliph of the successors of Mahomet, who expelled the 
Romans, after it had been in their hands 600 years. 
Omar, actuated by the most barbarous enthusiasm, 
which led him to consider all necessary and all valuable 
knowledge as comprised in the Koran, caused that ines- 
timable treasure of ancient literature, science, and know- 
ledge, which was deposited in the Alexandrian library, to 
be reduced to ashes. 

From the time of the first Ptolemy to the conquest of 
Egypt by the Mahomedans, Europe had been supplied 
with the productions of the East by the Greeks of Alex- 
andria, by the Romans while they were masters of Egypt, 
and by the subjects of the emperors of Constantinople, 
when the kingdom became a province of their domin- 
ions ; through a period, extending almost to a thousand 
years. 

The caliphs of Babylon were the sovereigns of Egypt, 
till about the year 807, when the Egyptians set up a ca- 
liph of their own, called the caliph of Cairo, to whom 
the Saracens of Africa and Spain were subject ; but the 
governors of the provinces, under the caliphs of Baby- 
lon and Cairo, soon wrested the civil power out of their 
hands, who had hitherto enjoyed an absolute control in 
affairs of religion and government, and left them only the 
shadow of sovereignty. 

At length, about the year 1160, Assareddin, general 
of Norradin, the Saracen sultan of Damascus, subdued 
the kingdom of Eg}^ : he was succeeded by his son, 
the famous Saladin, who also reduced the kingdoms of 
Damascus, Mesapotamia, and Palestine under his do- 
minion ; and, about the year 1190, he took Jerusalem 
from the Christians. This prince established a body of 
troops in Egypt, somewhat like the present janizaries, to 
whom he gave the name of Mamalukes ;. these became a 



36" History of etftJSi atiom, 

very intrepid and powerful body of men. The posteri- 
ty of Saladin sat on the throne till the year 1242, when 
the Mamalukes deposed Elmutan, and gave the crown to 
one of their own officers, named Turquemenius. This 
was the first king of the race of the Mamalukes, which 
dynasty engaged in continual wars with the Christians m 
Syria and Palestine; till sultan Eraphus drove them en- 
tirely out of the Holy Land. 

When the Portuguese had discovered the route to In- 
dia by the Cape of Good Hope, their great general Al- 
buquerque endeavoured to obtain a settlement at some 
port in the Red Sea ; after many unsuccessful attempts 
he at length became master of the island of Ormus ; but 
the Venetians finding that their very lucrative trade in 
Indian commodities, which they carried on under the 
protection of the soldan of the Mamalukes, wasin dan- 
der of being snatched from them, it so far instigated that 
Mahomedan prince, who w r as likewise deeply interested 
in preserving such commerce in its former channel,- that 
he addressed Julius II. who was then pope, and Emanu- 
el, king of Portugal, in a haughty tone, requiring them 
to relinquish their new course of navigation : threatening, 
in case of refusal, to put to death all the Christians in 
Egypt, Syria, and Palestine, to burn their churches, and 
demolish the holy sepulchre at Jerusalem. These 
threats were however disregarded ; therefore, as his last 
resource, he fitted out a fleet in the Red Sea, in order to 
attack the Portuguese ships wherever they appeared. 
This he was enabled to do by means of the Venetians ; 
for the love of gain will cause Christians to league with 
infidels against Christians ! The contest was sharp and 
obstinate for a short time ; but in the end the Portuguese 
entirely annihilated the naval, power of their rival in 
those seas. Soon after, the dominion of the Mamalukes 
was overturned ; and Egypt, Syria, and Palestine, were 
subjected to the Turkish empire by the victorious arms 
of Selirnl. in 1515, who formed a treaty with the Vene- 
tians,, and granted them great commercial immunities. 
Ever since this contest the Turks have retained posses- 
-sjon. of Egvpt. ■ ■ 



Egypt. ,17 

Ancient Egypt was supposed to contain eight millions 
of inhabitants ; at present, its population is not suppos- 
ed to reach half that number. Volney II. 232. 

Antiquities of Egypt.] This country abounds 
with proofs of its great antiquity and ancient grandeur. 
Vast ruins of magnificent cities and noble temples still 
supply scattered memorials to confirm the truth of his- 
tory, and to exhibit specimens of the architecture of the 
early ages, before it was improved and brought to per- 
fection by the Greeks. 

A little to the north of Cairo, where now stands as 
Turkish village, the city of Bus iris is supposed to 
have stood, which was renowned for its temple, dedi- 
cated to Iris, and some exquisite pieces of sculpture are 
still remaining, although the present wretched inhabi- 
tants scruple not to demolish the most precious produc- 
tions of art, when they can find in them a ready means of 
supplying domestic accommodations. 

About two leagues farther north are the remains of 
the ancient city of He l 10 pol is, called in Scripture 0?7, 
(See Genesis, .chap. xli. verses 45 & 50) which was dis- 
tinguished for the worship of the sun, whose priests 
were eminently skilled in philosophy and astronomy : 
these first computed- time by years of 365 days. The 
Arabs called this city, " the castle of the lights," from 
the perpetual fire which was maintained here. 

Memphis, in ancient times the capital of Egypt, 
which in the height of its prosperity was seven leagues 
in circumference, at present exhibits no vestiges by 
which to determine its site, concerning which Pliny and 
Strabo formed different conjectures : whilst Savory and 
Volney, among the moderns, are equally wide in opinion. 
But although its situation is not exactly determined, it 
is however certain that it was destroyed by Cambyses. 
This city was there sidence of the Pharaohs ; and here 
the patriarch Joseph, when overseer of the corn of 
Egypt, established his magazines. 

The Labyrinth, according to Herodotus, was built 
by the twelve kings of Egypt, when the government 
was divided into twelve parts, and served as so many 



3 8 History of 'all A ations, 

palaces to meet in, and adjust the affairs of the govern- 
ment, and ceremonials of religion. Upon the model of 
this very extensive and singular structure, the famous 
labyrinth of Crete was formed. 

The principal pyramids being situated near the place 
where the ancient city of Memphis is supposed to have 
stood, they are commonly called " The Pyramids of 
Memphis ;" Mr. Volney calls them the " pyramids of 
Djira." 

The Pyramids of Memphis and Soccotr a.] A- 
bout four leagues distant from Cairo are the Pyramids, 
which were formerly ranked among the seven wonders 
of the world, and cannot now be viewed without admi- 
ration. They are situated upon the solid rock, at the 
foot of the high mountains that accompany the Nile in 
its course, and separate Egypt from Lybia. Their ar- 
chitecture, both on the inside and without, is extremely 
different with respect to distribution, materials, and 
grandeur. Some of these are open, others are in ruins, 
and most of them are inclosed ; but all have been in- 
jured by time. The immense quantity of materials 
used in constructing them, renders it impossible for all 
of them to have been built at the same time, and those 
that were last erected greatly exceed the first in magni- 
ficence and grandeur. They are the works, says Nor- 
den, of the most remote antiquity, and even more early 
than the times of the first historians whose writings have 
been transmitted to us, the very epochaof their beginning 
being lost at the time when the first Greek philosophers 
travelled into Egypt. Herodotus, indeed, names the 
time when the largest was erected and makes it the work 
of Cheops. — See Mr. Beloe's Translation, Vol. 1. page 
262 — 370, and the notes annexed. 

There are four of the pyramids that deserve the atten- 
tion of the curious ; besides these, there are seven or 
eight other, but these last are not to be compared with 
the former, especially as some are in a very ruinous con- 
dition. The four principal are nearly upon the same 
diagonal line, at about 4000 paces distance from each 
©ther ; and their four faces exactly correspond to the 



Egypt. 39 

four cardinal points. The two most northerly are the 
largest ; and Mr. Greaves, who measured the bottom 
of the first, found that it was exactly 633 English feet 
square, and that its perpendicular height is about 500 
feet ; but if it be taken as the pyramid ascends, inclin- 
ing, then the height is equal to the breadth of the base, 
It is a circumstance pretty generally known, that the 
square of Lincoln's-inn-fields, in London, was laid out 
by Inigo Jones according to the exact size of the base 
of this pyramid. 

No entrance could be gained into some other of the 
larger pyramids, by the greatest exertions of labour, 
and the use of every means which invention could sug- 
gest. 

This is the pyramid which Herodotus says was built 
by Cheops. He reigned fifty years, twenty of which he 
employed upon this vast fabric, and three-fourths of the 
inhabitants of Egypt were employed, by forced service, 
in hewing, transporting, and raising the stones. It is 
supposed to have been erected about or before Solomon's 
temple, or 860 years before Christ. M. Maillet sup- 
poses the pyramid to be a vast Mausoleum : that in the 
upper chamber, the body r of the king was deposited, and 
in the lower one that of his queen. He forms this opin- 
ion, not on any traces which have been met with of a 
body, for none have been found, but because, on the 
eastern side of the lower apartment, there is a niche, 
sunk three feet into the wall, and eight feet high by three 
wide; here, he is confident, that a mummy had been 
placed, according to the custom in Egypt, and he is 
equally satisfied that the king was deposited in the upper 
hall, although there is no niche to confirm the fact. — 
To the opinion of this learned Frenchman, may be op- 
posed that of the Englishman Dr. Shaw, who observes, 
that the great chest of granite found in the upper cham- 
ber, or hall, of the pyramid, was probably intended for 
some religious use, it being of a different form from the 
stone coffins used in Egypt. Maillet asserts, that when 
the body of the king who built this pyramid was depos- 
ited in this superb mausoleum, several living persons, 



40 History of all Nations, 

destined never to come out of it, and to be buried alive 
with their prince, were introduced there at the same 
time ; this he is convinced ol* from having observed two 
holes, one toward the north, the other toward the east, 
which are elevated three feet and an half above the pave- 
ment, one in an horizontal direction, which he says 
was designed to admit air to the persons enclosed in this 
tomb, and by this they were supplied with their food. 
When they entered this receptacle, he supposes that 
each person was furnished with a coffin, to receive him 
when dead, and that they successively rendered each 
other this last pious duty, until the last survivor, who 
must want that succour which his companions had de- 
rived from himself and others. The other hole, which 
descends to the bottom of tfae pyramid, served to empty 
the dirt and filth. This conclusion, though very confi- 
dently drawn, being neither supported by any traditional 
evidence, nor by any thing found within the pyramid, 
a sceptic in such an opinion might ask, where are the 
remains of these coffins ? what is become of the skele- 
tons? Not even a bone of those victims, who are sup- 
posed to have been thus devoted to the manes of their 
prince, is known to have been found, and neither ava- 
rice nor curiosity could induce a removal of them. — 
But though in this instance not one corroborating cir- 
cumstance can be produced, yet it is certain that the 
practice of immuring the living in the tomb of a deceas- 
ed king did prevail in those times. 

Which first taught souls enslav'd, and realms undone, 
The enormous faith of many made for one. 

At near ten miles distance from these pyramids are 
those of Soccotra, written by Volney, Sakary (I. 280) 
They extend from N. to S. and are situated at the foot 
of the mountains, in a vast plain. 

One of the pyramids, which rises above the rest, is 
called " the Great Pyramid to the North." Norden 
measuring this structure, found that the east side extend- 
ed 690 feet, and the north side 710. The perpendicu- 
lar height is 345 feet. 



Egypt. 



41 



At the distance of a mile to the S. E. is another, cal- 
led u the Great Pyramid to the South," which is about 
600 feet square at the bottom. It seems to have been 
cased all the way up, and is built within of hewn stone. 

On a lower ground, about two miles to the E. of 
the last great pyramid, is one built of unburnt brick, 
which seems to have been made of ths mud of the Nile, 
it being a sandy black clay, with some pebbles and shells 
in it, and mixed up with chopped straw, in order to 
bind the clay together, as unburnt bricks are at pre- 
sent usually made in Egypt, and other parts of the East. 
It seems not improbable that this pyramid was built by 
the Israelites, and that they also made the bricks of 
which it is formed; for Josephus says, tl when time 
had extinguished the memory of the benefits performed 
by Joseph, and the kingdom was transferred to another 
family, the Israelites were used with great rigour ; 
they were odered to cut canals for the Nile, to raise 
dykes, and to erect fantastical pyramids." Jos. Ant. 
lib. II. chap. ix. 

Many learned men have been of opinion that these 
pyramids were erected for the purpose of making as- 
tronomical observations, and to serve as sun-dials, by 
which the variation of the shadow, in proportion to its 
height, could be taken with a degree of accuracy. What 
supports this opinion is, that two of the sides of every one 
of these buildings stand exactly north and south, so as to 
be true meridian lines, and the other two sides stand ex- 
actly east and west. Plato first suggested this idea; 
but a strong objection to it is, that the variation in the 
position of the earth in its orbit, although extremely 
slow and gradual, yet would, in such a prodigious rev- 
olution of years, be found to have occasioned a consid- 
erable deviation from the true meridian line of these 
pyramids in modern times : perhaps no modern travel- 
ler has taken an observation of their present position 
with sufficient accuracy ; otherwise the objection is de- 
cisive. M Volney objects on another ground, saying, 
" It could not be necessary to erect eleven observatories 
so near each other, as the pyramids of different sizes 

p 



42 History of all J\ation$, 

are;" and in support of the opinion that they were Mao 
solea, he expresses himself as follows: "This sterile 
spot, remote from all cultivated land, possesses the 
qualities requisite for an Egyptian cemetry, and near it 
was that of the whole city of Memphis, the plain of 
Mummies. If we consider all these things we shall no 
longer doubt that the pyramids are only tombs: we 
shall cease to wonder that the despots of a superstitious 
people should have made it a point of importance and 
pride to build for their skeletons impenetrable habita- 
tions, when we are informed, that even before the time 
of Moses it was a dogma at Memphis, that souls at the 
expiration of six thousand years should return to the bo- 
dies they had quitted. It was for this reason that so 
much pains were taken to preserve the body from pu- 
trefaction, and that endeavours were used to retain even 
its form, by means of spices, bandages, and every kind 
of preservative against corrodation. Volney^s Travels, 
I. 277. 

In so symbolical a religion as that of the ancient 
Egyptians, it is not improbable that the pyramidical 
form might convey some sacred meaning ; and perhaps 
the pyramids themselves might be objects of their ado- 
ration as symbolizing the Deity. 

Remarks relative to the causes of a difference of com- 
plexion in mankind. 

With regard to the deep black, which tinges the com- 
plexion of negroes, a learned author says, " The cause 
of this singularity has been the subject of much inquiry, 
which has given rise to a variety of systems. Some 
have absurdly supposed, that the negroes, being the de- 
scendants of Cain, have had this mark of infamy stamped 
upon them, as a punishment for the fratricide of their an- 
cestor. If it were so, it must be allowed that his pos- 
terity have made a severe atonement for his crime ; and 
that the descendants of the pacific Abel have thoroughly 
avenged the blood of their innocent father. 

But, waving the discussion of such ridiculous fan < 



Egypt. • 43 

cies, let us enquire, whether it is possible that the ne- 
groes should derive their colour from the climate they 
inhabit? Some philosophers, and eminent naturalists, 
are of this opinion. There are no negroes, say they, 
but in the hottest countries. Their colour becomes 
blacker the nearer they approach to the equator. It be- 
comes lighter and more bright at the extremities of the 
torrid zone. The whole human species, in general, 
contract whiteness from the snow, and grow tanned in 
the sun. Various shades may be observed from white 
to black, and from black to white, marked out, as it 
were, by the parallel degrees which cut the earth from 
the equator to the poles. 

If the zones, imagined by the inventors of the sphere, 
were represented by real bands, one might perceive the 
jetty colour of the natives insensibly decrease to the 
right and left as far as the two tropics ; from thence the 
brown colour of the inhabitants grow paler and brighter 
to the polar circles, by shades of white, becoming more 
and more brilliant. But it is somewhat remarkable, 
that nature, which hath lavished the brightness of the 
most beautiful colours on the skin and plumage of ani- 
mals, and on vegetables and metals, should, properly 
speaking, have left men without colour ; since black and 
white are nothing but the beginning and absence of all 
colours. Whatever be the original and radical cause of 
that variety of complexion in the human species, it is 
agreed, that this complexion is owing to a gelatinous 
substance, that is lodged between the cuticle and the 
skin. This substance is blackish in negroes, brown in 
olive, coloured, or swarthy people, white in Europeans, 
and diversified with reddish spots in those who have ex- 
tremely light or red hair. 

Anatomy has discovered, that in negroes, the sub- 
stance of the brain is blackish ; that the pineal gland is 
entirely black, and their blood is of a much deeper red 
than that of white people. Their skin is always hotter, 
and their pulse quicker. The reason of their hair being 
curled, is, because having to penetrate through a net- 
work of a more dense and tenacious substance, it be- 



44 History of all Nations, 

comes more twisted, and cannot be lengthened out, 
The sweat of the negro diffuses a strong and disagree- 
able odour, because it is impregnated with that thick and 
rancid grease, which has been long lodged, and slowly 
oozes out between the cuticle and the skin. 

This substance is so palpable, that one may distinguish 
in it, with a microscope, a sediment formed in little 
blackish globules. Hence the perspiration of a negro, 
when it is copious, tinges the linen cloth which wipes 
it off. 

The colour of the negroes is falsely supposed to be 
owing to the climate, since in Africa, under the parallels, 
the eastern coasts have no negroes, and even produce 
white people ; and that in South America, the heat of 
the sun, and nature of the soil, have never produced 
any negroes. Though it should be allowed, that the 
western coast of Africa is the hottest region of the whole 
globe, the only inference to be deduced from this, would 
be, that these are climates proper only to certain species, 
or certain species adapted to particular climates ; but 
not that the difference of climate could change the same 
species from white to black. White people never be- 
come black in Africa ; nor negroes white in any cli- 
mate. An union, indeed, between the two sexes of 
these two, produces a species who partake equally of 
the colours, features, and complexion of both. If man 
was originally white, it must be supposed, that having 
been created nearer to the frigid than to the torrid zone, 
he peopled the earth successively from the poles to the 
equator : while, on the contrary, the fertility of the 
globe between the tropics, is a presumption that it has 
been peopled from the equator to the poles. 

The climate inhabited by the negroes exhibits no pal- 
pable variations, but such as may be occasioned by 
sands or morasses. The almost insupportable heat of 
their days is succeeded by very cool nights. The dew y 
less profuse under a cloudy sky than under a serene ho- 
rizon, is undoubtedly the cause of this singularity. 

A' certain author recently asserted, that the Africans 



Egypt. 45 

are equally incapable of reason and virtue. The follow- 
ing fact will enable us to judge of this opinion. 

An English ship that traded in Guinea in 1752, was 
obliged to leave the surgeon behind, whose bad state of 
health did not permit him to continue at sea. Murray, 
for that was his name, was then endeavouring to recover 
his health, when a Dutch vessel drew near the coast, 
put the blacks in irons whom curiosity had brought to 
the shore, and instantly sailed off with their booty. Those 
who interested themselves for these unhappy people, in- 
censed at so base a treachery, ran instantly to Cud joe, 
(a black man at whose house Murray lodged) who 
stopped them at the door, and asked them what they 
were in search of. " The white man who is with you," 
replied they, " who should be put to death, because his 
brethren have carried off ours." " The Europeans," 
answered the generous host, " who carried off our 
countrymen, are infamous barbarians ; kill them when- 
ever you can find them. But he who lodges with me is 
a good man ; he is my friend ; my house is his for- 
tress : I am his soldier, and I will defend him : — before 
you can get at him, you shall pass over my dead body i 
O my friends, what just man would ever enter my do 
if I suffered my habitation to be stained with the blood 
of an innocent man and a stranger!" This noble dis- 
course appeased the rage of the blacks : they retired, 
ashamed of the design that had brought them there ; 
and some days after acknowledged to Murray himself, 
how happy were they that they had not committed a 
crime, which would have occasioned them perpetual re- 
morse I 

CHAPTER IV, 

The Assyrian Empire. 

THE most ancient of the four great empires was 
that of Assyria, the name of which country was derived 



46 History of all Js at ions, 

from Ashur, the first settler of it after the flood. Assy- 
ria proper was bounded on the north by Armenia ; on 
the west by the Tigris ; on the south by Susiana ; 
and on the east by Media. In this country stood the 
famous city Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire. 

The Assyrian chronology is extremely perplexed, and 
the only certain light we have respecting the Assyrian 
history, is in the sacred writings. Ninus, king of Assy- 
ria, after conquering almost all Asia, between Tanaias 
and the Nile, built the city of Nineveh on the river Ti- 
gris, the circumference of which was sixty miles. 

But Semiramis, his widow, being determined to eclipse 
the glory of her husband, founded Babylon, in which 
she employed two millions of labourers. When this 
enormous c;ty was completed, she put herself at the 
head of a prodigious army, and marched into Media, af- 
ter conquering which, she proceeded to visit Persia, and 
the rest of the Asiatic provinces, where she erected ma- 
ny magnificent palaces, laid out extensive gardens, and 
built a number of stately cities. For some time this 
Assyrian heroine was successful ; but, at length Stabro- 
bates, king of India, checked her career and compelled 
her to sue for peace, and returned to her own country, 
where she shortly after expired. 

Semiramis was succeeded by her son Ninyas, a pu- 
sillanimous, lascivious monarch, who shut himself up in 
his palace, that his subjects might regard him as a God. 

In this course he was followed by all his successors. 
Sardaripalus was the last, and most vicious, of the Assy- 
rian monarchs ; this wretch descended to such a pitch of 
depravity as to assume the dress and manners of a pros- 
titute. 

In his time the Medes, Babylonians, and Persians, 
assisted by the Arabians, shook off the Assyrian yoke. 
On hearing of this revolt and confederacy, the effemi- 
nate monarch was roused from his sloth and marched 
at the head of his army against the rebels, whom he de- 
feated in three different engagements. But the coalition 
being strengthened by the accession of the Bractrains, 
the imperial army was beaten, the camp ta'ien by sur- 



The Assyrian Empire. 47 

prize, and Sardanapalus escaped with difficulty to the 
city Nineveh. Here he was closely besieged for two 
years, but finding at last that the place could hold out 
no longer, and -knowing that no favor would be shewn 
him by the enemy, he set fire to his palace ; and destroy- 
ed himself with all his concubines and eunuchs. Thus 
ended the Assyrian empire, after subsisting one thou- 
sand four hundred years. 

/- 
Additional Remarks on the History of Assyria. 

Phul, king of Assyria, subdued Israel, b. C. 771 years. 
Tizlath Pileser, son of Phul, invaded Israel, and carried 
the inhabitants away captives into Assyria. This mon- 
arch was succeeded by Salmaneser, who compelled Ho- 
sea, king of Israel, to pay him tribute. Some years 
afterwards Hosea attempted to shake off the Assyrian 
yoke, with the aid of So, king of Egypt. On this Sal- 
maneser marched into the land of Israel, and after a siege 
of three years took Samaria the capital city. He then 
returned into Assyria, and took with him Hosea and all 
his subjects. Sennacherib, the next king of Assyria 
(b. C. 717) marched into Judea, and forced king Heze- 
kiah to pay him a yearly tribute of three hundred talents 
of silver and thirty of gold. 

Notwithstanding this submission on the part of the 
Jewish monarchy, Sennacherib shortly afterwards sent 
his general Rabshaken, at the head of a large army, 
against Jerusalem. While the siege was carrying on 
with vigor, and by Sennacherib in person, he was in- 
formed that Tirhaka, king of Ethiopia, was about to 
enter his dominions. This intelligence compelled him 
to raise the siege, and to march against the invader ; 
but at his departure he sent a letter to Hezekiah, in 
which he threatened that Judah should be added to the 
many nations which his arms had reduced to the Assy- 
rian empire : He soon returned to put his threat in exe- 
cution : but a destroying angel, according to the figura- 
tive language of Holy Writ, to express the Divine in- 
terposition, visited his camp and slew one hundred and 



48 History of all Alatiotts, 

eighty-five thousand of his soldiers.* This judg* 
ment compelled the arrogant tyrant to hasten back to his 
own country, where he exercised the most horrid cruel- 
ties upon his subjects, but particularly upon the captive 
Jews, in revenge for the disgrace which had befallen him 
in his attempt to reduce their country. His conduct be- 
came so odious and intolerable even in his own family, 
that his own sons, Arameleck and Sharczer, conspired 
against, and murdered him as he was offering up his de- 
votions in the temple of his god Nisroch. 



chapter v. 
The Persian Monarchy. 

The Persian monarchy, originally of small extent, 
was founded by Cyrus the Great : let us take a view of 
its vast dominions. It included all India, Assyria, 
Media, and Persia, and the parts about the Euxine and 
Caspian seas. Cyrus was surnamed the Great on ac- 
count of his heroic and great achievements, in an ex- 
pedition against the Scythians; this most excellent prince 
was surprized by an ambuscade of the enemy, and slain. 
He was succeeded by his son. 

Cambyses, in scripture called Artaxerxes. He add- 
ed Egypt to his empire ; but did not long enjoy his 
victories ; for having plundered and demolished Jupi- 
ter Amnion's temple, he was killed by his own sword 
unsheathing, as he mounted his horse. His successor 
was 

Darius Hystaspes, under whom the Babylonians re- 
volted. ;Darius besieged them, took their city, beat 



* The most rational conjecture is, that this destruction was occasioned 
by the pestilential wind common in those countries, by the name of Samid, 
which, in passing over the deserts, is sometimes carried into the fertile 
provinces, and instantaneously slays both man and beast. Herodotus, the first 
heathen writer, takes notice of this catastrophe in the Assyrian army. 



T/ie Grecian Monarchy. 49 

down their walls, and gave the inhabitants for a spoil to 
the Persians. After a thirty-six year's reign, he declar- 
ed Xerxes his successor and died. 

Xerxes invaded Greece with an innumerable army, 
resolved to reduce it all under his subjection, but being 
defeated, was killed by his own subjects, who despised 
him for his ill success. After which his son, 

Artaxerxes Longimanus succeeded to the throne. — 
And after him, Darius Nothus. Then Artaxerxes 
Mnemon, who left the kingdom to his son Ochus. — = 
Upon this succession great revolts were made in the em- 
pire. He was poisoned by Bargoas, and Bargoos made 
king in his stead. Bargoas poisoned himself also, in the 
second year of his reign, and made Nero Codomannus 
king, who then assumed the royal name of Darius.— 
Alexander the Great of Macedon, being made general 
of the Grecians against the Persians, defeated Darius in 
the three battles of Granicus, Cilicia, and Arbela, and 
conquered all Asia : by which means the empire of the 
Persians was transferred to the Grecians, after it had 
stood for upwards of two hundred years. This event 
happened 330 years before Christ. 



chapter Vi. 
The Grecian Monarchy. 

Ancient Greece, of which Macedon made a small 
part, consisted of several principalities, every one of 
which had its own customs, manners and laws. The 
kingdom of Macedon was founded by a small body of 
adventurers under Caranus, on the east of the iEgean 
Sea. It was obscure and of no estimation in the begin- 
ning, but acquired so much power and influence under 
Philip, as to become the umpire of Greece. 

Alexander, the son and successor of this monarch, 
having subdued all the other Grecian states, expended 
his victorious arms from the Hellespont to the Indies, 



50 History of all Nations. 

and gave law to the whole eastern world. He died at 
Babylon, of a fever, or as some historians say by poison, 
in the 33d year of his age and 12th of his reign. The 
untimely death of Alexander having prevented him 
from nominating a successor, the Macedonian chiefs 
divided v. long themselves the fruits of his victo- 
ries and conquests. 1. Ptolemy obtained as his share, 
Egypt, Lybia, Arabia, Palestine, and Celosyne. 2. Cas- 
sander seized on Macedon and Greece. 3. Lysimachus 
reigned in Thrace, Bythinia, and a few other provinces. 
4. Seleucus took possession of Asia to the river Indus. 
This division of the empire of Alexander was effected 
in the year 301 before Christ. Macedonia remained in 
the family of Alexander the Great, or that of some of 
his generals, till 168 b. C. when Perseus was conquer- 
ed by the Romans, and his kingdom reduced to a Ro- 
man province. It remained part of the Roman empire 
till the beginning of the 14th century, when the Turks 
entered it, under Bajazet 4th, but they did not complete 
the conquest of it till 1429, under Amurath the second. 

Of Greece in General. 

Before we enter upon the History of the Roman peo- 
ple, who established the fourth general monarchy, up- 
on the destruction of the Grecian empire ; it will be 
necessary for us to take a brief view of the rise, various 
changes and declensions of the other principalities, 
which, with Macedon, composed the Grecian nation. 

Greece, in its ancient extent, contained^ 

1. Athens. Cecrops is generally admitted to have 
been the first king of Athens, in the year 1556 before 
Christ. In ancient history he is represented as half man 
and half serpent, to denote his prudence and strength. 
In his reign the deluge of Deucalion is said to have 
happened. The monarchical form of government sub- 
sisted nearly five centuries, during which period nothing 
mgmorable has been recorded of their kings. The last 



The Grecian Monarchy. 51, 

king that reigned in Athens was Codrus, who sacrificed 
his life for the good of his country ; after his glorious 
death, the Athenians declared Jupiter to be their only 
sovereign. 

Magistrates, called Archons, succeeded the kings of 
Athens, and were entrusted with the supreme authority. 
This office, at first hereditary, and during life, was after- 
wards changed into a decennial, or ten years, and after- 
wards (b. C 684) into an annual magistracy. Nine of 
the principal men in the city were annually elected to it. 
The exercise of power so limited was productive of ma- 
ny pernicious effects. Factions were daily formed ; 
dissentions and discord broke out and raged with vio- 
lence ; material alterations in the form of government 
became necessary ; but these could only be effected by 
a legislator, in the choice of which they pitched upon 
Draco, a person of approved abilities, but rigid beyond 
human sufferance. He published his laws, which are 
remarked for their excessive rigour, in the 39th Olym- 
piad, and 624 years before Christ. 

Solon, the wisest and best man in Athens,, appeared, 
and (b. C. 594) established excellent rules of justice, 
order, and discipline. Scarcely had Athens tasted the 
fruits of these new regulations, when, Pisistratus an 
opulent citizen, usurped the supreme power which he 
and his posterity exercised for 50 years. Four hundred 
and four years before Christ, it became the prey of the 
Spartans, who plundered the city and destroyed the for- 
tifications. They imposed thirty tyrants on the wretch- 
ed Athenians, who were afterwads expelled by Thrasay- 
qulus. They submitted to the Macedonian yoke under 
Alexander (b. C. 338) but by the assistance of the Ro- 
mans, they regained their liberty forty years after- 
wards. In the Mithridatic Avar, the Athenians, impru- 
dently, espoused the cause of the king of Pontus against 
the Romans. Provoked by their ingratitude, Sylla redu- 
ced their town to a state of desolation. It afterwards 
fell a prey to the Goths (A. D. 267) and, having fre- 
quently changed its masters, it submitted to the power 
of the Turks, about the middle of the fifteenth cen- 



52 History of all j\ations, 

tury ; and it remains a province of the Turkish Em- 
pire. 

2d. Argos and Mycenea. — Argos, which looked 
upon itself to be the most magnificent city in the world, 
was built by a colony from Egypt, under the command 
of inachus. He was styled the Son of the Ocean, be- 
cause his origin was not known, or on account of his 
coming by sea to Greece. His son Phoroneus insti- 
tuted the laws of government, and on that account has 
b.eii called the first king in Argos, the first of men, and 
the father of mortals. Nothing of importance has been 
reel cled of the kings of Argos, till Perseus > who trans- 
ferred the seat oi government to Pvlycenea. In the 37th 
year of Eurystheus, grandson of Perseus, the Argon- 
awiic expedition happened, (b. C. 1224.) This unjust 
and tyrannical prince had assigned to Hercules his tasks ; 
and after the death of that hero, he banished all his chil- 
dren. These were the Heraclidea, who fled to Athens 
for protection, and who returned to Peloponnesus forty 
years after the destruction of Troy. In the reign of 
Agamemnon, the Trojan war commenced ; and, in the 
year 1184, Troy, after ten years vigorous siege, was 
taken. In the year 1104, (b. C.) the posterity of Her- 
cules invaded Greece, and put an end to the kingdom of 
Mycenea. 

3d. Sp.irta, or Lacedaemon. — The kingdom of 
Sparta is supposed to have been founded by Lelex. Ten 
kings reigned in successsion from Lelex to Menelaus, 
who assisted at the Trojan war. In the division of 
Greece by the Heraclidea, Aristodemies, their general, 
became master of Sparta. He was succeeded by his 
two sons, Euresthemus and Proclus, who, alternately, 
exercised the supreme authority. This form of govern- 
ment remained entire for a number of centuries. Ly- 
curgus at last appeared. Admirably calculated to act 
as a king and a legislator, he new modelled the state. 
The regal power was abridged by the institution of a 
sonate. About 130 years after the death of this cele- 
brated lawgiver, the order of the Ephirl was instituted : 
live magistrates were annually elected by the people. 



The Grecian Monarchy. 53 

and invested with extensive powers, to keep the senate 
in awe. The strictest economy, severity of discipline, 
public spirit, attention to the education of youth, and 
disinterested concern for the prosperity of neighbouring 
states, distinguished the Spartan nation. This, with 
the other Grecian, states, submitted to Alexander the 
Great, and at last was entirely subdued by Antigonus, 
king of Macedon, who defeated their king Cleomenes, 
and made himself master of the state. This happened 
222 years (b. C.) after which Sparta scarcely deserves 
to be mentioned in history. 

4. Thebes. — This was the principal city in Boeotia : 
it was under the government of many kings and great 
men, famous in fabulous history. The first is said to 
be Calydmus, and next to him reigned Ogyges, in 
whose time all Greece was reputed to be deluged. Then 
Cadmus (b. C. 1045) is said to have come into Boeotia, 
and brought the use of letters with him into Phoenicia. 
After this we read of Amphion, CEdiphus, &c. And, 
last of all, Xanthus ; who being killed in battle, the 
Thebans renounced monarchy, and established a com- 
monwealth, which subsisted till it was overwhelmed by 
the Persian empire. 

5th. The Argonautic Expedition, and the 
Siege of Troy. — Two great events, which happened 
nearly at the same period, deserve our particular atten- 
tion, as they are strongly characteristic of the genius and 
spirit of the times : — the Argonautic Expedition, and 
the Siege of Troy. This voyage of the Argonauts was 
a most remarkable enterprize for the times. The ac- 
count of this expedition, by an excellent writer, is briefly 
as follow : — Phryxus, the son of Athamus, king of 
Thebes, admonished of his step-mother Ino's design 
against his life, fled with his sister Helle, who was like- 
wise apprehensive of danger. Aram, with a golden 
fleece, was sent by Juno, to carry them across the ocean. 
Helle was drowned in the passage, but Phryxus arrived 
safe in Cochis. Soon after Jason, with fifty or sixty of 
the flower of Greece, undertook to recover this fleece of 
the ram, which, on account of his essential services, had 



54 History of all JKations, 

been consecrated to the gods. For that purpose they 
built a long ship, the first that ever ploughed the main. 
This ship was called the Argos, and the helm of it had 
the faculty of speech ! ! Chiron, the preceptor of 
Achilles, formed a sphere, on which he delineated the 
asterisms that they might direct their course through the 
sea by the stars. After a variety of adventures, they ar- 
rived at Colchis ; surmounted all obstacles, carried off 
the prize, together with Medea, the king's daughter. In 
their return, besieged, and took the city of Troy ; passed 
thence into other countries, triumphed wherever they 
went, left memorials of their victories in many parts of 
Europe and Asia, and arrived at Greece within the space 
of four months after their departure. 

Such is the expedition of the Argonauts, celebrated 
in ancient history. The various accounts that have been 
given of it, abound in absurdity, inconsistency, and 
fable. Hence some have been led to call in question the 
reality of its existence. But the evidence of it is too 
clear and strong to be set aside. Almost all ancient and 
modern writers admit, that the story of this adventure 
had a foundation in fact. They differ only as to the 
time when it should have happened, and as to several 
circumstances relating to it ; but, from the best ac- 
counts, we may place it about forty years before the siege 
of Troy by the Greeks, or twelve hundred and twenty- 
five before Christ. 

This expedition was looked upon as a wonderful ex- 
ploit, and became the subject of the finest poems : even 
the gods themselves were amazed at the boldness of the 
undertaking ; and, in order to eternize this event, they 
placed in the heavens the wonderful ship, which had 
been able to pass Iolchos to the mouth of the Phase ! — 
a thing now, done by the smallest of the Turkish barques. 

The siege of Troy by the Greeks is a proper criterion 
by which we may form a judgment of the state of the 
military art at that time in Greece. The occasion of 
the Trojan war is generally known : Paris, the son of 
Priam, king of Troy, having been sent with a fleet to 
ravage the Grecian coast, succeeded in this bold enter- 



Rome, 55 

prize, and returned to Troy in triumph. Among the 
captives whom he carried off, was Helen^ the wife of 
Menelaus. The Greeks resenting this injury, equipped 
a powerful armament, appointed Agamemnon command- 
er of it, set sail for Troy, and, after a siege often years, 
(as formerly mentioned) reduced that city to ashes. The 
memorable event happened two thousand nine hundred 
and ninety- one years ago. No vestige of this celebrated 
city can now be traced : the face of the country is re- 
markably changed by inundations and earthquakes. To 
the conclusion of this war, the Greeks referred the dates 
of their earliest transactions ; so that it has become a re- 
markable epoch in ancient history. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Of Rome> under Kings and Consuls. — Punic Wars. 

The city of Rome, as well as its inhabitants, was, in 
the beginning, rude and unadorned. Their houses 
were (what the name they gave them signified) only a 
covering for them, and a defence against bad weather. 
These sheds of theirs were more like the caves of wild 
beasts than the habitations of men; and were rather 
flung together as chance led them, than formed into 
regular streets and openings : their walls were half mud, 
and their roofs pieces of wood stuck together: nay, 
even this was an after improvement ; for in Romulus* 
time their houses were only covered with straw. Thus 
small and contemptible was the infancy of that city, 
which was destined to be the capital of the world. 

It was built by Romulus, in the year 753 before 
the Christian asra, and was peopled by vagabond 
slaves, and criminals, without laws, without magis- 
trates, and at first without women. Its sovereign, Ro- 
mulus, introduced order and discipline, which gradually 
improved under six succeeding kings, the last of whom 
was Tarquin the proud, whom Brutus drove into exile 



56 History of all J\ations t 

for his tyranny, and the libidinous insolence of his son, 
in dishonouring Lucretia, a Roman lady, and totally 
put an end to kingly government, in the year 244 after 
the building of the city, and 509 before the birth of 
Christ. The people, having thus recovered their lib- 
erty, established a republican form of government, and 
elected annually two magistrates, whom they distinguish- 
ed by the tille of consuls. The office of these magis- 
trates was to superintend the ceremonies of religion, to 
controul the finances, to levy and command the legions, 
and to preside in assemblies. All precaution that was 
used for the preservation of the state, could not secure 
the people from the oppression of the nobility. The 
former soon found that they had only changed their 
masters, and embraced only the shadow of liberty. — 
They murmured ; they complained. These complaints 
were soon followed by menaces and acts of rebellion. — 
Peace w T as restored by the interposition of a dictator, 
who was a magistrate elected in the hour of imminent 
danger, and invested with temporary despotism. In a 
few years, Rome became again the scene of anarchy and 
confusion: The people supposing their grievances not 
sufficiently redressed, retreated from the city to Mount 
Avenline The senate, alarmed at this gene al revolt, 
abated their former rigour, eased the burdens of the 
people, and to secure their future interest, created five 
new magistrates, called tribunes ; who were to be an- 
nually elected by the people ; whose persons were to be 
sacred ; whose business it was to defend the oppressed, 
to pardon offences, to arraign the enemies of the people, 
and, when they judged it necessary, to step, by a sin- 
gle word, the whole machine of government. 

During these dissentions all tillage had been neglect- 
ed; the natural consequence of which was a famine.-— 
The people, pinched with want, and willing to throw 
the blame on any but themselves, ascribed their dis- 
tress to the avarice of the patricians, who, they alledged, 
had purchased all the corn, and intended to sell it out 
to great advantage. Coriolanus, a senator of austere 
and inflexible virtue, more particularly incurred their 



Home. ^1 

$seiitment. The tribunes summoned him to a trial, 
and condemned him to perpetual banishment. From 
this time perpetual contentions and discords subsisted 
between the tribunes and patricians. The number of 
the former was increased to (en. 

Hitherto (b. C. 300) the Romans had no written or fix- 
ed statutes. While monarchy subsisted, the will of their 
kings was instead of a law. On the principles of natu- 
ral equity the decisions of the consuls and of the senate 
were founded. To supply this defect in government, 
commissioners were appointed to bring from Athens, 
in Greece, the laws of Solon, that such of them might 
be adopted as suited the present constitution of the Ro- 
man republic. On the return of the commissioners^ 
ten persons (who were called the Decemviri) were elect- 
ed for the institution of these new laws. They were 
invested with absolute power for one year, during which 
all other magistracies were suspended. These decem- 
viri caused their laws to be engraved on ten brazen 
tables,* and placed in the most conspicuous part of the 
principal square in the city. Some fragments of these 
laws are still to be found in the histories of that early 
period. The decemviri, prompted by the ambition and 
artifice of one of their colleagues, Appius Claudius, 
endeavored to make their government perpetual ; but 
the people, roused by the tyranny of these usurpers, 
and on Claudius' offering violence to Virginius' daugh- 
ter, inflicted the punishment their crimes merited > and 
restored the consular and tribunitian power. 

In the year of the city 396, the Gauls, under the 
command of Brennus, taking advantage of the civil dis- 
cords between the senate and the tribunes, invaded Italy, 
plundered Rome, and laid it in ashes. They retired to 
their own country, loaded with spoils. The city was 
speedily rebuilt, but the sad effects of this calamitous 
event were long felt. About this time the offices of 
iEdile and Prsetor were created : the one to take care of 
the building and reparation of the temples, and other 

* Afterwards two more were added,. 
H 



58 History of all J\lafions, 

public structures, and to inspect provisions of ever^ 
kind ; the other to administer justice, and decide all law- 
suits. 

Not long after this period, the Samnites, a hardy na- 
tion, that inhabited the southern parts of Italy, invaded 
the Romans, who, after a war of thirty years, at last en- 
tirely subdued them under Papirius Cursor (b. C. 279.)' 
Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, in Greece, by making a de- 
scent into Italy, next opposed the Roman arms, but 
with the same ill success : in this war, which lasted six 
years, Fabricius did his country great honor in sending 
back Pyrrhus' physician, prisoner, who had offered to 
poison his master (b. C. 272.) 

Till this time, that is for 500 years, we see the people 
of Rome extended not their arms beyond the bounds of 
Italy, but were continually engaged in wars with some 
of their neighbouring states. The defeat of the Sam- 
nites, and the retreat of Pyrrhus, terminated in the entire 
conquest of all that tract of land. 

Rome, now ambitions of foreign conquest, began to 
turn her views to the acquisition of Sicily. Carthage, 
possessed of considerable settlements in that island, ex- 
cited their jealousy ; and it having given assistance to 
the southern parts of Italy against the Romans, was al- 
ledged by them as a reason for their commencing hostili- 
ties. Carthage stood, in Africa, near the place where 
Tunis now stands, and was of much greater antiquity 
than Rome. As the Carthaginians were at that time in 
possession of the greatest part of Sicily, that island be- 
came first the theatre of war. Hitherto the Romans had 
never ventured to sea. They now began to apply 
themselves to maritime affairs ; and, by an inflexible 
perseverance, having at length built a fleet from a model 
of a Carthaginian vessel which in a storm had happened 
to be driven on their shore, they intrusted the command 
of it to their consul Drusilius, who boldly put to sea with 
his newly constructed armament, and gained the first naval 
victory. The enemy's fleet was dispersed, and fifty of 
their vessels taken. In consequence of this victory, 
the Romans immediately made a descent upon the coast 



Rome. 59 

of Africa, from whence the war was removed into Spain 
and Italy. The event was for some time doubtful ; but 
the Carthaginians were constrained to sue for peace, 
which they obtained on hard and ignominious condi- 
tions (b. C. 242.) By this war, which lasted twenty- 
three years, the Romans added Sicily, and all those 
islands that lie between Italy and Africa, to their domin- 
ions. 

As the Carthaginians had made peace solely because 
they were no longer able to continue the war, they took 
the earliest opportunity of breaking the treaty. They 
collected a numerous army, and intrusted Hannibal with 
the supreme command ; who, crossing the Alps, march- 
ed into Italy, and defeated the Romans in several bat- 
tles. Rome was threatened with instant destruction ; 
but Fabius Maximus, being made dictator, averted the 
impending blow by delaying and avoiding battle. In 
the mean time Scipio the Roman general, recovered 
the whole province of Spain. He now transferred the 
war into Africa. Hannibal was immediately recalled 
from Italy, where he had been successful sixteen years, 
and had chosen the very place where he had designed to 
encamp, under the walls of Rome. In Africa he was 
defeated by Scipio with such prodigious havoc that a 
peace was concluded the following year (b. C. 202.) 

The ambition of these rough warriors now exceeded all 
bounds. Elated with success, they aspired at the con- 
quest of the world. War was proclaimed against Philip 
II. king of Macedon, who was defeated by Flaminius, 
and subjected to the payment of tribute. By the sub- 
jection of Macedon, the Romans had an opportunity of 
showing their generosity : they ordered freedom, and a 
liberty to live according to their own laws and institu- 
tions, to be proclaimed to all the states of Greece that 
had been subjected to the dominion of the kings of Ma- 
cedon. 

Antiochus, king of Syria, was next brought to bow 
to the Roman eagles. Not long after this, the unhappy 
Perseus was defeated by Paulus Emilius. He refused 
to submit to the conditions that had been imposed upon 



£0 History of all Nations* 

his father Philip ; and his kingdom, which had subsisted 
700 years, became a Roman province. 

Not long after this, the Carthaginians took up arms 
against Massinissa, king of Numidia, a friend and ally of 
Rome. This occasioned the third Punic war, in which 
Carthage, once renowned for arts, opulence, and extent 
of dominion, was plundered, lamed, and levelled to the 
ground (b. C. 146.) The same year Corinth was re- 
duced to ashes, and Greece became a Roman province 
under the title of Achaia. They then subdued Lusita- 
nia, now Portugal ; and after that, the Numantines, the 
chief people of Spain. In the space of one century, the 
Romans extended their conquests over the three divisi- 
ons of the continent. Thrace, Greece, Africa, Syria, 
and all the kingdoms of Asia Minor, became members 
of this vast empire. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
ROME. 

The Gracchi — -Marias and Sylla — Pompey and Ccesar 
— Triumvirate of Octavianus, Mark Anthony, and 
LepidiLs. 

The fall of Carthage, and conquest of the Grecian 
states, though seemingly the most fortunate events in 
the Roman history, contributed to the extinction of 
Roman liberty. No sooner were their fears from abroad 
removed, than the people grew altogether ungoverna- 
ble ; 'effeminacy, debauchery, profligacy, and every 
atrocious vice, succeeded to temperance, severity of 
life, and public spirit. As the Romans gradually ex- 
tended their victorious arms over the weaker states of 
Italy, they were accustomed to take a certain portion of 
the conquered lands into their own possession ; part of 
which was sold by auction for the use of the public, and 
the rest divided among the poorer citizens on the pay- 



Uome. 61 

ment of a small quit-rent to the treasuiy. For the bet- 
ter regulation of these distributions, various laws had 
been passed from time to time, under the title of the 
Agrarian. By these laws it had been ordained, that no 
citizen should possess more than 500 acres ; but the 
richer citizens getting possession of large tracts of waste 
land, and adding to these likewise, either by force or 
purchase, the smaller pittances of their poor neighbours, 
by degrees, became masters of territories instead of 
farms, threatening the utter ruin of the industrious 
husbandmen, and the extinction of popular liberty. 

While avarice and rapine were thus raging at free 
quarters over the patrimony of the poor, one strenuous 
effort was made to repel their hostile invasions, by the 
virtue and courage of the famous Tiberius Gracchus : 
melting with pity at the desolate view of the Etrurian 
plains, and animated. by the cries of the whole people, 
who importunately demanded the restitution of the 
alienated lands, he resolutely stood forth the advocate of 
their deserted cause. He proposed the execution of 
the Agrarian law. This produced a civil war, in 
which he fell an illustrious victim to a rapacious and 
implacable senate. — Caius Gracchus, pursuing the 
same step, shared the fate of his brother. The Numi- 
dian war, which commenced b. C. Ill, and lasted five 
years, affording many instances of the injustice, insolence, 
and shocking corruption of the Roman Senate. — Ju- 
gartha, who had usurped the kingdom of Numidia, was 
put to death, and that country, with all Mauritania' in 
Africa, fell under the Romans. Soon after, the violence 
of civil war, between Sylla and Marius, two artful aspi- 
ring patricians, shook the foundation of Rome. Fac- 
tions were formed. Sylla, after having defeated Mith- 
ridates, the most powerful and warlike monarch in the 
east, marched to Rome, prevailed over Marius, but 
sullied the glory of his victories by the horrid massacre 
of his enemies. He assumed the title of dictator ; but 
possessing unlimited power, he used it with moderation, 
resigned the dictatorship, and died a private citizen. 

After the death of this unfeeling tyrant, the flame of 



62 History of all JSatiom, 

civil discord again burst out, and raged with fury. 
Pompey and Cas sar raised themselves to the highest dig- 
nities, and neither of them would admit of a rival. The 
conspiracy of Cataline was quelled by Cicero, and him- 
self defeated and killed. Caesar subdued all Gaul, and 
carried his conquests as far as Britain. Returning 
into Italy, he was created dictator, and pursuing his ri- 
val, Pompey, they met in the plains of Pharsalia in Thes- 
saly ; a battle ensued, which decided the fate of Pompey 
and that of the empire forty- eight years before Christ. 
Caesar was triumphant. No vestige of a republic now 
remained ; the senate was dispossessed of all its power, 
and Rome henceforward was never without its masters. 
Caesar now, possessed of absolute authority, distin- 
guished himself by acts of clemency and munificence, 
and in the space of two years gave law to the known 
world. His astonishing success accelerated his ruin. 
His enemies, excited by Brutus and Cassius, attacked 
and murdered him (b. C. 44) in the senate-house, at the 
foot of Pompey 's statue. Mark Anthony seized the favora- 
ble opportunity , and made himself master of the common- 
wealth ; but Octavianus arriving at Rome, and declaring 
himself the adopted son and heir of Caesar, a civil war 
arose, during the course ol which Octavianus and An- 
thony united their interest, and associated Lepidus with 
them in power. These three usurpers made a partition 
of the provinces. The liberty of Rome was only to be 
found in the camp of Brutus and Cassius. Anthony 
and Octavianus marched against them as conspir- 
ators, and defeated them on the plains of Philip- 
pi. Victorious over the republican army, Octavia- 
nus got rid of Lepidus, and quarrelled with Antho- 
ny, who intoxicated by his passion for Cleopatra, in 
Egypt, had abanboned himself to pleasure and indo- 
lence. War ensued, and the victory of Actium con- 
firmed Octavianus master of the Roman world. We 
may date the end of the commonwealth thirty-one 
years before Christ, and 722 from the foundation of 
Rome. 



Rome. 6S 

CHAPTER IX. 
ROME UNDER THE EMPERORS. 

Partition of the Empire under Dioclesian. — Constantine 
transfers the Seat of Empire. 

The constitution of states and empires, like the hu- 
man body, is in continual progress, and has necessarily 
a period of growth, maturity, declension, and extinction. 
No nation has afforded us a more striking example of 
this than the Romans. Octavianus, surnamed Caesar 
by his uncle's adoption, and having the titles of Emper- 
or and Augustus conferred on him by the flattery of the 
senate, added to his empire, now arrived at maturity, all 
the yet unsubdued parts of the known world ; its boun- 
daries extending on the west to the Atlantic Ocean, to 
the Rhine and Danube on the north, the Euphrates on 
the east, and to the sandy deserts of Arabia and Af- 
rica on the south. * At this time the annual revenue 
of the Roman empire amounted to forty millions English 
pounds sterling. The city of Rome was fifty English 
miles in circumference, and its inhabitants exceeded four 
millions. Augustus was a consummate politician, with- 
out any of the virtues of a great man. He new-mo- 
delled the state, flattered the people, and rendered mo- 
narchy supportable to republicans. Long peace, an 
uniform government, and prevailing luxury, introduced 
a slow poison into the vitals of the empire. The na- 
tional character was changed. All ranks became ef- 
feminate ; the senate was contemptible ; the magistrates 
without authority or honour ; the people oppressed, in- 
solent, and servile. These were sad but sure symptoms 
of approaching ruin, f In the .year 14, Augustus was 

* It will impress our minds witha juster image of the greatness of Rome, 
by observing, that the empire was above two thousand miles in breadth, 
and that it extended in length more than three thousand : that it was si- 
tuated in the finest part of the temperate zone, between the 24th and 56tb 
degrees of northern latitude ; and that it was supposed to contain above 
1,600,000 square miles, for the most part of fertile and well cultivated 
land ! 

f Playfair. 



64 History of all Nations, 

succeeded by Tiberius, whose tyranny became insup* 
portable, and he was assassinated in the 23d year of his 
reign, A. D. 37.* Caius Caligula succeeded ; a de- 
testable tyrant. He proclaimed his horse consul ; fed 
it at his table, introduced it to the temple in the vest- 
\ sentsof the priests of Jupiter, &c. He was assassinated 
iu the fourth year of his reign. 

The senate and people would now gladly have seen 
the restoration of the republican constitution, but the 
army preferred a military government, under an em- 
peror. 

Claudius was elected ; who made an expedition into 
Britain, defeated the brave Caractacus, and carried him 
prisoner to Rome. He was poisoned after a reign of 
fourteen years, by his empress, Agrippina, to make 
room for her son, Nero ; a dissolute and cruel tyrant, 
who, after fourteen years of the greatest extravagances 
and vices, put an end to his miserable life ; and was suc- 
ceeded by his general, Galba, whose injustice and ava- 
rice caused him to be assasinated, after a short reign of 
seven months. Otho, the next emperor, reigned three 
months ; and Vitellius, a brutal tyrant, reigned eight 
months. Vespasian followed; he rose by his merit 
from a mean original, and in an advanced age, to the em- 
pire. He made war with the Jews ; and, seventy years 
after Christ, Jerusalem was taken, and destroyed. Ves- 
pasian reigned nine years and eleven months, and was 
succeeded by his son Titus, celebrated for his uncom- 
mon virtues and talents, and for his mild and excel- 
lent administration. He died in the third year of his 
reign, with the character oidelicice humani generis — the 
delight of mankind ! A monster of vice and cruelty 
succeeded in Domitian. Under the oppression of this 
tyrant, Rome groaned for fifteen years. He died 
A. D. 9c. 

Nerva had scarcely accepted the purple from the as- 
sassins of Domitian, before he discovered that his feeble 



* In the 18th year of Tiberius, our Saviour, Jesus Christ, suffered death, 
on the cross-. 



Rome. 65 

age was unable to stem the torrent of public disorders, 
which had multiplied under the long tyranny of his pre- 
decessor ; after a short reign of sixteen months, he 
adopted Trajan his successor, a prince possessed of 
every talent and virtue that can adorn a sovereign. Hap- 
py in his private life, and universally respected, he died 
altera reign of nineteen years, A. D* 117. His kinsman 
Adrian succeeded, under whom the empire flourished in 
peace and prosperity. He encouraged the arts, reformed 
the laws, asserted the military discipline, and visited all 
his provinces in person. He died, after a reign of twenty- 
two years, and left the Roman throne to Titus Aurelius 
Antoninus, an amiable as well as a good man. He re- 
stored the ancient dignity and authority of the senate ; 
and, after a glorious reign of twenty-two years, died, 
A. D. 161, having adopted Marcus Aurelius Antoni- 
nus, a virtuous, wise, and philosophic prince. He 
died, after a reign of nineteen years. 

" If a man were called to fix the period in the history 
of the world, during which the condition of the human 
race was most happy and prosperous, he would, without 
hesitation, name that which elapsed from the death of 
Domitian to the accession of Commodus,"* the son of 
the late emperor Marcus, a wretch, in whose mind every 
sentiment of virtue and humanity was extinct. This 
hated tyrant, after having oppressed his subjects thir- 
teen years, perished by poison, given him by his favou- 
rite concubine, Marcia. The vacant throne was in- 
stantly filled by Pertinax, prefect of the city, an ancient 
senator, of consular rank, whose conspicuous merit had 
broken through the obscurity of his birth, and r ised 
him to the first honours of the state. The hasty zeal of 
this virtuous prince to reform the corrupted state, proved 
fatal to himself and to his country. The soldiers, dread- 
ing the strictness of the ancient discipline, which he was 
preparing to restore, and regretting the licence of the 
former reign, raided a general sedition ; and on the 
— ■ - -* 

• Gibbon. 
I 



66 History of alligations, 

eighty- sixth day only after the death of Commodtisv 
Pertinax fell by the hand of one of his guards. 

The empire was now openly exposed to sale by the 
praetorian guards, and purchased by Didius Julianus. 
The provinces revolted ; and new competitors offering 
their claims, Severus, the highest bidder, was hailed 
Augustus, and Julianus was beheaded by a sentence of 
the senate, as a common criminal, after having pur- 
chased, with an immense treasure, an anxious and pre- 
carious reign of only sixty-six days. Having obtained 
the purple by means of cruelty and bloodshed, Severus 
secured himself in the government, by inculcating the 
principles of despotism and passive obedience. His will 
was the law of the empire. The senate no longer pos- 
sessed the shadow of authority in the civil or military 
department ; so that Severus may be considered as the 
principal author of the decline of the Roman empire. 
He made an expedition into Britain, with the design of 
completing the long- attempted conquest of that island, 
and expired at York, in the 65th year of his life, and in 
the 18th of a glorious and successful reign, A. D. 211. 

From this period we behold a train of emperors, vi- 
cious or impotent ; either wilfully guilty, or unable to 
assert the dignity of their station. The empire itself 
gradually decayed, harrassed on all sides by powerful 
invaders, and convulsed by the furious contests of do- 
mestic foes. On the death of Severus, Caracalla and 
Geta, his sons, agreed to divide the empire. Such a di- 
vided form of government would have proved a source 
of discord between the most affectionate brothers. It 
was impossible that it could long subsist between two 
implacable enemies. It was visible that one only could 
reign, and the other must fall. The unfortunate Geta 
was assassinated, and Caracalla, after a series of cruel- 
ties, was murdered, in the sixth year of his reign. Such 
was the end of a monster, whose life disgraced human 
nature. 

The disorders of the empire, which began with Corn- 
modus, continued for about a century, till the accession 
of Dioclesian ; we will therefore pass over the unin- 



Ron*. 67 

structive reigns of Heliogabalus, Maximinus, Gordianus, 
Decius, Galbus, &c. 

Dioclesian, like Augustus, may be considered as the 
founder of a new empire. As his reign was more illus- 
trious than that of any of his predecessors, so was his 
birth more abject and obscure. His parents had been 
slaves; nor was he himself distinguished by any other 
name than that which he derived from a small town in 
Dalmatia, from whence his mother deduced her origin. 
The strong claims of merit procured his elevation. The 
first considerable action of his reign was, to divide the 
wide extent of the imperial dominions into four govern- 
ments, over which presided two emperors, Dioclesian 
and Maximian ; and two Caesars, Galerius and Constan- 
tius : a ruinous plan of policy, which nothing but the 
superior genius of Dioclesian could support. The nor- 
thern Germanic nations now began to invade the em- 
pire. Peace being restored, Dioclesian, in the 21st 
year of his reign, and his colleague, Maximian, abdi- 
cated the empire. 

As soon as Dioclesian and Maximian had resigned 
the purple, their station was filled by the two Caesars, 
Galerius and Constantius, who immediately assumed 
the title of Augustus. Constantius dying soon after, in 
the imperial palace at York, his son Constantine was 
proclaimed in Britain, who, after the death of Galerius, 
and the defeat of several competitors for the throne, be- 
came sole master of the Roman world. He removed the 
seat of empire from Rome to Byzantium, which he 
enlarged and beautified with the most magnificent edifi- 
ces, and gave it the title of Constantinople. Italy was 
desolated by the change. Robbed of its wealth and in- 
habitants, it sunk into a state of the most annihilating 
languor ; changed into a garden by an Asiatic pomp, 
and crowded with villas, now deserted by their volup- 
tuous owners, this once fertile country was unable to 
maintain itself, Constantine enjoyed an uninterrupted 
flow of private as well as public felicity, till the 30th 
year of his reign, when he end^d his memorable life at 



68 History of all Nations, 

the palace of Aquyrion, in the suburbs of Nicomedia, 
whither he had retired for the benefit of the air. 



CHAPTER X. 
ROME. 

Final Division of the Empire between the Sons of Con- 
stantine. — Estailishment of the Goths in Italy. — 
Charlemagne, Emperor of the West. — ball of the 
Eastern Empire. 

We are now arrived at a dreary and melancholy peri- 
od of the Roman history. Rome, now in her old age, 
is become a languishing, decrepid, and worn-out body, 
which glories, notwithstanding, in the greatness of an 
august name, whose dignity she is no longer able to 
support. Rome herself is a prey to barbarous nations. 
Both east and north join to share her spoils. 

On the death of Constantine the Great, a new divis- 
ion of the provinces took place between his three sons, 
Constantine, Constantius and Constans. Constantine, 
the eldest, obtained, with a certain pre-eminence of 
rank, the possession of the new capital, which bore his 
own name and that of his father. Thrace, and the 
countries of the east, were allotted for the patrimony of 
Constantius ; and Constans was acknowledged the law- 
ful sovereign of Italy, Africa, and the western Illyrium. 
After this partition of the empire, three years had 
scarcely elapsed, before the sons of Constantine seemed 
impatient to convince mankind how unqualified they 
were to govern the dominions intrusted to them. They 
murmured about the limits of their shares of the empire. 
Intestine wars, arose, and Constantine was slain by the 
troops of Constans, who soon after met the same fate. — 
The divided provinces were a gain united by Constantius, 
who reigned thirty-eight years : a prince composed of 
pride and weakness, of superstition and cruelty. 



Rome. 69 

Julian succeeded. From his hatred of Christianity, 
and artful policy to extirpate that religion, he has been 
called the Apostate. His civil administration was ex- 
cellent. He fell in battle at the age of thirty-one, A. D. 
363. — Jovian, who was no more than first domestic to 
Julian, was immediately invested with the imperial or- 
naments by the soldiers. This prince died suddenly, 
after eating a plentiful, perhaps an intemperate, supper. 

The throne of the Roman world remained ten days 
without a master ; when Valentinian, a native of Ciba- 
lis, in Pannonia, who from an obscure condition raised 
himself, by matchless strength and dexterity, to the mil- 
itary commands of Africa and Britain, was elected by 
the soldiers. In his reign, the fierce inhabitants of the 
vast countries in the north of Europe abandoned their 
own forests and mountains in quest of new settlements. 
Valentinian was succeeded by his son Gratian, and his 
brother Valens. On the death of Valens, who was kil- 
led by the Goths, A. D. 378, Gratian invested Theodo- 
sius with the empire of the eastern provinces. Valenti- 
nian II. succeeded his father Gratian in the western ; 
who being put to death, Theodosius reigned solely over 
the empires of the east and west. 

The final division of the Roman empire now took 
place between the sons of Theodosius, Arcadius and 
Honorius, who after the death of their father were saliu- 
ted, by the unanimous consent of mankind, as the law- 
ful emperors of the east and west. Arcadius, in the 
east, reigned over Thrace, Asia Minor, Syria, and 
Egypt, from the Lower Danube to the confines of Per- 
sia and Ethiopia. Honorius, in the west, assumed the 
government of Italy, Africa, Gaul, Spain, and Britain. 
The eastern empire subsisted for many ages ; but the 
western soon became the prey of barbarians. 

The frail and mouldering edifice of the republic is 
now hastening to its fall. Under the reign of Honorius, 
the Gothic army invaded Italy ; and Alaric, their king, 
formed the siege of Rome. This unfortunate city 
gradually experienced the distress of scarcity, and at 
length the horrid calamities of famine. Their last re- 



70 History of all Nations, 

source was in the clemency of the king of the Goths, 
who was prevailed on to accept a large ransom, and to 
raise the siege. The Huns, who had migrated from 
the confines of China to those of Germany, under the 
command of that formidable barbarian Attila, became 
the terror of the world : they defeated the Roman ar- 
mies, A. D. 452, laid waste the territories of the east 
and west, and urged the rapid downfall of the Roman 
empire. — Another eruption of uncivilized tribes, from 
unknown regions, soon followed. Villages, cities, pro- 
vinces, were plundered and destroyed ; and the western 
world was re-peopled by those rapacious invaders. 

Africa was seized by the Huns ; Spain by the Goths, 
Alans, and Suevi ; Gaul by the Franks ; and Great Bri- 
tain by the Saxons. 

Odoacer conducting the Heruli, Turcilingae, &c. 
from Prussia into Italy, A. D. 476, put an end to the 
■western empire, in the reign of Augustulus, whom this 
successful barbarian compelled to resign the purple, and 
caused himself to be proclaimed king ; but in 493 he 
was defeated, and put to death by Theodoric, king of 
the Ostrogoths, who erected a new kingdom in Italy. 

This first Gothic king of Italy, and several of his 
successors, were princes of great prudence and human- 
ity. Ravenna was the seat of their court, and in real 
magnificence vied with ancient Rome, as their equitable 
administration did with the reigns of Trajan and Anto- 
ninus. They were at last subdued by Belisarius, the 
general cf Justinian, emperor of the east, who had the 
pleasure of uniting Italy once more to the Roman east- 
ern empire. 

Soon after the expulsion of the Ostrogoths, great 
part of Italy was seized by the Lombards, under the 
command of Albinus, their first sovereign. He and 
his successors made Pa via the place of their residence. 
The government of Italy was now entirely changed. 
Albinus settled the principal officers of his army, under 
the name of dukes, in the chief cities of every province. 
On the death of Albinus, who was slain by the trea- 
chery of his wife Rosamond, kingly power was abolished 



Germany, 71 

for the space of twelve years and a half, and each duke 
became sovereign of his own city and its district. The 
Lombards during this interregnum extended their con- 
quests in Italy, but being threatened by foreign enemies, 
they saw the necessity of a close unity, and of commit- 
ting the care of the war to one person. 

Twenty- one Lombard kings reigned in Italy ; the last 
of whom, the unfortunate Desiderius, was defeated and 
imprisoned by Charlemagne, king of France, A. D. 774, 
who put an end to the kingdom of the Lombards, after 
it had subsisted two hundred and six years. 

The duration of the eastern empire reached from the 
year 395 to the year 1453, in which year Constantinople 
was taken by the Turkish sultan, Mahomet II. In the 
course of this period it never equalled the ancient Roman 
empire in power or splendour ; and it presented always 
a spectacle of weakness, folly, superstition, and crimes. 
It was gradually dismembered, and rent in pieces. The 
Bulgarians claimed one part of it ; and the Saracens, a 
race of people who inhabited the deserts of Arabia, con- 
quered Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and other neighbouring 
countries. On the ruins of the eastern Roman monar- 
chy, Mahomet II. established the Turkish empire, and 
his descendants still possess the finest country on the 
globe. Greece, where civil liberty was first known, 
and where arts and sciences were first brought to per- 
fection, continues to this day to be the seat of ignorance.* 
barbarism, and despotism. — Turner, 

Chapter xi. 

GERMANY. 

Its ancient Limits. — Conrad, the first Emperor. — Con- 
tentions between the Emperors and Popes. — Guelphs 
and Gebe lines. — Charles V, — The Peace of West- 
phalia. 

The warlike Germans, who first resisted, then inva- 
ded, and at last overturned, the western monarchy of 
Rome, have the next clainv to our attention 



12 History of all Nations. 

Ancient Germany extended over one third of Eu- 
rope. It included almost the whole of Germany, Den- 
mark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Livonia, Prussia, and 
the greater part of Poland. This extensive empire was 
governed by an infinite number of independent princes, 
and peopled by a variety of tribes under different 
names, whose complexion, manners, and languages, de- 
noted a common origin. 

In the fifth and sixth centuries many of these nations 
left their native country, and, founded empires of their 
own under the general or chieftain who led them forth. 
Wherever these barbarians marched* their route was 
marked with blood. The most fertile and populous 
provinces were converted into deserts. Italy, and Rome 
itself, were often pillaged. New invaders, from regions 
still more remote and barbarous, drove out or extermi- 
nated the former settlers, and Europe was successively 
laid waste, till the North, by pouring forth its myriads, 
w T as drained of people, and the sword of slaughter tired 
of destroying. * 

The first proper emperor of Germany, after it was 
wholly detached from France, and the imperial dignity 
became elective, was Conrad. This extensive country 
was at that time nearly confined within its present boun- 
daries. 

Conrad, at the time of his election to the empire, was 
count of Franconia. His reign was one continued scene 
of troubles, though he took every necessary measure to 
support his authority, and preserve the tranquility of 
the empire. He died without male heirs in 919, after 
recommending to the Germanic body, as his successor, 
Henry, surnamed the Fowler, a prince of great abilities, 
who re-established the affairs of Germany. His son 
Otho I. triumphed over many rivals, subjected Denmark 
and Bohemia to tribute, and became the most powerful 
prince of his age. He had the honour of re-uniting 
Italy to the imperial dominions ; and he procured a de- 
cree from the clergy, that he and his successors should 

• Modern Europe 



Germany. 73 

have the power of nominating the pontiff, and of granting 
m vestures to bishops. He died in 973, after a reign of 
thirty- six years; during which, by his generosity and 
courage, he had justly acquired the appellation of Otho 
the Great. 

Otho II. surnamed the Sanguinary, on account of the 
blood spilt under his reign, succeeded his father at the 
age of eighteen. Nothing of importance happened dur- 
ing this, or the reigns of several succeeding emperors, 
till 

Henry IV. surnamed the Great, who at the age of 
five years succeeded his father, in 1056. This prince 
maintained a perpetual struggle with the popes through 
the whole of his reign. These troubles were occasioned 
by a famous decree passed in a council of one hundred 
and thirteen bishops, ordaining, that, for the future, the 
cardinals only should elect the pope, and 'that the election 
should be confirmed by the rest of the Roman clergy, 
and the people. This Henry opposed ; and on being 
accused of still continuing to nominate bishops and ab- 
bots (a right which his predecessors, in common with 
almost all princes, enjoyed, notwithstanding the apostolic 
decree to the contrary) the formidable sentence of ex- 
communication was pronounced against him by Gregory 
VII. and his subjects withdrew their allegiance. — 
Alarmed and astonished, he undertook a journey to Ita- 
ly, in the midst of winter, accompanied only by a few 
domestics, to ask absolution of his tyrannical oppressor. 
Being stripped of his clothes, and wrapped in sackcloth, 
he approached the haughty pontiff a -i a suppliant, and 
with difficulty obtained forgiveness Henry V. his son. 
surrendered up the right of investiture, (A. D. 1122) 
to the disgrace of the imperial dignity. This unnatural 
brute, at the instigation of the popes, caused his father's 
body, as the carcase of an excommunicated wretch, to 
be dug out of the grave where it was buried, in the ca- 
thedral at Liege, and be carried to a cave at Spire. He 
married Maud, or Matilda, daughter of Henry I. king 
©f England, by whom he had no children ; so that the 

■K 



74 History of all JSiations, 

empire after his death, which happened in 1125, was 
left without a head. 

The states conferred the imperial dignity on Lotha- 
rio, duke of Saxe-Suplembourg, distinguished by a pas- 
sionate love of peace, and an exact distribution of jus- 
tice. Being seized with a dangerous distemper, which 
carred him off in the 12th \ear of his reign, he was suc- 
ceeded by 

Conrad III. nephew to Henry V. But the imperial 
throne was disputed by Henry the Haughty, duke of 
Bavaria, the name of whose family was Guelph : hence 
those who espoused his party were called Guelphs ; an 
appellation afterwards usually bestowed on the enemies 
of the emperors. The imperial army was commanded 
by Frederic, duke of Suabia, the emperor's brother, 
who being born at the village of Hieghibelin, gave his 
soldiers the name of Gibelines ; an epithet by which the 
imperial party was distinguished, while the pope's adhe- 
rents grew famous under that of Guelphs.* Conrad 
increased the authority and influence of the prince. His 
nephew and successor, Frederic, duke of Suabia, sur- 
named Barbarossa, extended the prerogative, and sup- 
ported the dignity of the empire, with equal courage and 
reputation. He died in an expedition to the Holy Land j 
and was succeeded, A. D. 1190, in the imperial throne, 
by his son Henry VI. who copied his example. This 
prince detained Richard I. king of England, on his re- 
turn from the Holy Land, prisoner, and loaded him with 
irons ; but afterwards ransomed him for 150,000 marks 
of pure silver, about 300,0001. English money — an 
enormous sum in those days ! — The Normans rebelled ; 
and on being conquered by Henry, he condemned their 
chiefs to perish by the most excruciating tortures. One 
Iornandi, of the house of the Norman princes, was tied 
naked on a chair of red hot iron, and crowned with a 
circle of the same burning metal, which was nailed to 
his head^ The empress, shocked at such cruelty, re- 
nounced her faith to her husband.. Henry soon after 

• Modem Europe.. 



Germany. 75 

(A. D. 1197) died of poison. The power which these 
emperors had acquired was lost by Frederic II. (the 
son and successor of Henry VI.) the last assertor of the 
privileges of the empire, in opposition to the pretensions 
of the pope. 

After the death of Conrad, Frederic's son, a variety of 
candidates appeared for the imperial throne, and several 
were elected by different parties; among whom was 
Richard, duke of Cornwall, brother to Henry III. king 
of England ; but no emperor was properly acknowledged 
till the year 1273, when Rudolph I. count of Hapsbourg, 
was unanimously raised to the vacant throne, whose 
reign was one continued scene of troubles, and at last 
ended in his deposition. 

The fiercest contests were carried on for many years, 
by those families that aspired to the supreme power; 
and the quarrel of the emperors with the popes was like- 
wise prosecuted with rigour. Benedict XII. having re- 
fused absolution to Lewis V. the princes of the empire 
assembled at Franckfort, A. D. 1338, and established 
the famous constitution called the Pragmatic Sanction, 
by which it was irrevocably fixed *' that the plurality of 
the suffrages of the electoral college confers the empire 
without the consent of the holy see* that the pope has 
no authority over the emperor of Germany, nor any 
right to approve or reject his election." 

Nothing worthy notice occurred during the reigns of 
the several succeeding emperors, till Albert II. whose 
short reign may be considered as the epoch of the gran- 
deur of the house of Austria ; for in the space of one 
year, (A. D. 1438) this emperor received three crowns, 
viz. those of Hungary, of the Empire, and of Bohemia. 

In the succeeding reign, under Frederic III. the art 
of printing was invented by John Gottemberg, of Mentz, 
and America was discovered. 

His successor, Maximilian I. by his marriage with 
Mary, princess of Burgundy, added the Netherlands to 
his dominions. During this reign Germany was di- 
vided into circles, in each of which a provincial and par- 
ticular jurisdiction was established. On his death, 



76 History of all JKations, 

Charles V. succeeded to the throne in 1516, whose 
reign abounded in great and important events. He was 
grandson to Maximilian, and heir to the kingdom of 
Spain in right of his mother Joanna. 

This tvas the period of the reformation of religion 
that took place in several parts of Germany. Pope 
Leo X. to supply the luxuries of his court, had recourse 
to a public sale of indulgences. This traffic excited 
just abhorrence in Martin Luther, professor of divinity 
at Wirtemberg, who published his Theses, Sept. 30^ 
1517. Tlie interest and power of the court of Rome 
we e exerted to destroy so daring an opponent, and to 
suppress his doctrines, but in vain. Such was the begin- 
ning of tlie reformation, which extended its effects not 
only to ail the kingdom of Europe, but likewise to the 
most distant part of the globe. 

Charles V. had been successful in above thirty bat- 
tles, where he commanded himself ; but in the decline 
of life his good fortune began to forsake him ; and 
being highly chagrined at this change, and oppressed by 
sickness, he resigned the empire to his brother Ferdi- 
nand ; and the kingdom of Spain, the Netherlands, Ital- 
ian dominions, &c. &c. to his son Philip II. in 1556, 
and passed the remainder of his days in a monastery. 

During the reigns of several of the succeeding em- 
perors, nothing of great importance is recorded, except 
the violent commotions which were excited by the 
Catholics and Lutherans, and which desolated the em- 
pire till the year 1648, when Ferdinand III. concluded 
the peace of Westphalia, by which the Catholic and 
Protestant religions were equally established. This 
peace preserved the empire from destruction ; and Ger- 
many, from that time, has been gradually increasing in 
power and splendor. 

Ferdinand was succeeded in the imperial dignity by 
his son Leopold, in the year 1658 ; against whom the 
Hungarians rebelled, and put themselves under the pro- 
tection of the Turkish emperor, Mahomet IV. who 
proclaimed war against the house of Austria. The 
Turks in the beginning ^were irresistible, and wouUJ 



Germany. 77 

have taken Vienna, had not the siege been raised by So- 
bieski, king of Poland, who obliged the infidels to so 
precipitate a retreat, that they abandoned not only their 
tents, artillery, and baggage, but left behind them the 
famous standard of Mahomet, which was sent as a pre- 
sent to the pope. — The Turks were again defeated in 
the plains of Barean, and all Hungary was recovered by 
the imperial arms (A. D. 1683.) 

On the death of Leopold, in the year 1705, his son 
Joseph I. was raised to the vacant throne. During this 
reign, the war was carried on against France by the 
Imperialists, in conjunction with Great Britain, Portugal, 
and the States of Holland. The duke of Marlborough 
commanded the English, and prince Eugene the impe- 
rial troops. These two generals never engaged in 
any battle but what they gained, nor besieged a town 
which they did not make themselves masters of. 

Joseph died suddenly, A. D. 17i 1, after a reign which 
had been one continued flow of success. 

He was succeeded in the imperial throne by his broth- 
er, Charles VI. who dying without male issue, the 
house of Austria was extinguished, after it had governed 
Germany upwards of three centuries. 

The succession to the whole Austrian dominions be- 
longed to the archduchess Maria Theresa, the emperor's 
eldest daughter, by virtue of the Pragmatic Sanction. — 
The kingdoms of Hungary and Bohemia, the provinces 
of Silesia, Suabia, Upper and Lower Austria, Stiria, 
Carinthia, Carniola, the four finest towns, Burgaw, 
Brisgaw, the Low Countries, Friuli, Tirol, the duchy 
of Milan, and the duchies of Parma and Placentia, 
formed that immense inheritance. 

After great opposition, the elector of Bavaria, under 
the name of Charles VII. was invested with the imperial 
ensigns, Jan. 4, 1742. This prince, worn out by a 
complication of bodily ills and a long train of misfor- 
tunes, died in the beginning of the year 1745, when 
Francis I. the grand-duke of Tuscany, husband to Ma- 
ria Theresa queen of Hungary, daughter of Charles VI. 
was raised to the head of the.empire, in spite of the op- 



78 History of all Nations. 

position of the house of Bourbon. He was an unsuccess- 
ful but wise and prudent prince. Francis I. dying sud- 
denly, Aug. 18, 1765, his son Joseph Benedict- Augus- 
tus II. was elected, who dying in 1790 was subceeded 
by Leopold duke of Tuscany. Leopold II. after a 
short reign of two years, died suddenly on March 1, 
1792, and was succeeded by the present emperor Fran- 
cis II. — Turner. 

Formerly there were nine electors, in whom were vest- 
ed the right of electing the emperors of Germany. — 
The three ecclesiastical were the archbishops of Mentz, 
Treves and Cologne. 

The secular were, Bohemia, Saxony, Brandenburgh, 
the Palatinate, Bavaria, and Hanover. The heir appa- 
rent to the empire must be chosen by the electors king 
of the Romans, to secure his succession. 

In 1791 the French revolution attracted the attention 
of all the European powers ; and a conference was held 
at Pilnitz between the emporor of Germany, the king 
of Prussia, and the elector of Saxony : At this con- 
ference a coalition was formed, with a view of restoring 
of Monarchy in France. 

By the definitive treaty concluded at Luneville, on 
the 9th of February, 1801, between the French repub- 
lic and the emperor of Germany, the house of Austria 
was compelled to relinquish the sovereignty of the Bel- 
gic provinces, the grand duchy of Tuscany, and all the 
fine domains on the left Bank of the Rhine. 

Thus ended a contest which lasted ten years, and oc- 
casioned such a prodigious waste of blood and treasure. 

Bonaparte, the present emperor of the French, who 
has assumed the right of creating and dethroning kings, 
has lately made great revolutions among the German 
princes, and considerably curtailed the former extent of 
the Germanic empire. 

Religion. — The Germans became acquainted with 
some principles of the Christian religion towards the 
close of the seventh century, by means of the Irish 
Killian. The reformation began in Germany about 
the year 1517; for, the archbishop of Mentz being 




Wisdom 



Murphy ™<J« 






England. 79 

unable to pay the large sums the pope exacted from 
him, procured leave of his holiness to sell his pardons 
and indulgences to all the great towns in Germany. 
Dr. Martin Luther, hearing of this, protested against 
the proceeding, and openly disputed at Wirtemberg 
and Leipsic against those who asserted the power of the 
pope to grant pardons' and indulgences, notwithstanding 
his being threatened with excommunication, and his 
being condemned as a heretic. The elector of Saxony 
approving of his doctrines, he boldly propagated them 
in other parts of Germany, where the dukes of Bruns- 
wick and Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, and the Marquis 
of Brandenburg, the Landgrave of Hesse, and the inha- 
bitants of most of the imperial cities, became his disci- 
ples ; and, in 1529, protested against the conclusion of 
the diet of Spire, by which all innovations in religion, 
till the decree of a future council should be obtained, 
were declared unlawful. From this protest they re- 
ceived the name of " Protestants." 

The Roman, the Lutheran, and Calvinist religion 
only tolerated in Germany. 



chapter XII. 

ENGLAND. 

From its earliest period. — Heptarchy. — Norman Con- 
quest. — Plantagenets. — Conquest of Ireland. — Civil- 
Wars of York and Lancaster. — Reformation. 

The accounts of the first population of all nations are 
extremely uncertain; the early seras, and the transactions 
of the immediately succeeding periods, are generally 
enveloped in thick darkness, or involved in fable. 

Britain was little known before the invasion of Julius 
Cs&sar : and its inhabitants were then remarkable only for 
their ferocity or barbarism. It received the name of 
Albion, from its white rocks ; and Britain from Britt, an 
old word, signifying, at that time, painting the s/cin, 
which was much used by the first people. 



80 History of all Nations, 

Julius Caesar conducted his army into this unknown 
country, which was divided into several small states, 
governed by petty princes, fifty-five years before Christ. 
The emperor Claudius conquered a great part of the 
island, and carried their chief prince, Caractacus, to 
Rome in triumph. Under Nero, the Britons rebelled ; 
but at last they were finally subdued by Julius Agricola. 

Five hundred years Britain continued a Roman pro- 
vince ; when, by the decline and fall of the Roman em- 
pire, they again recovered their liberty. The South 
Britons were left in a defenceless state, suffering continual 
depredations from their neighbours, the Picts and Scots, 
who had not, like themselves, been reduced by the 
Romans to a state of civilised and peaceful servitude. — 
These two great tribes, into which the inhabitants of 
the northern region of the island were then divided, 
uniting, made frequent and destructive inroads into 
the territories of the Britons, which they plundered and 
laid waste. 

About forty years after the dissolution of the Roman 
government, (A. D. 449) Vortigern appears to have 
obtained the supreme command of the princes and cities 
of Britain. This unfortunate monarch, harrassed by 
the continual invasions of a domestic foe, was at length 
reduced to the necessity of inviting the Saxons, a Ger- 
man nation, to protect his throne and people from the 
fury of those barbarians.* Hengist and Horsa, two 
Saxon chiefs, as they ranged along the eastern coast 
with three ships, were engaged, by the promise of an 
ample stipend, to embrace the defence of Britain ; and 
their intrepid valour soon delivered them from their ene- 
mies. The isle of Thanet, a secure and fertile district, 
was allotted for the residence of those German auxilia- 
ries, and they were supplied, according to the treaty, 
with an allowance of clothing and provisions; Having 
repulsed the Scots and Picts, the perfidious Hengist, 
being joined by successive colonies of his own coun- 

• Gibbon. 



England. 81 

irymen,* turned his arms against the Britons, and perpe- 
trated a treacherous massacre during the security of a 
feast. After a long and violent contest, the Saxons ex- 
tirpated or enslaved those whom they had engaged to 
protect. Different parts of the island being subdued 
by different chieftains or leaders — seven independent 
thrones — the Saxon heptarchy — were founded by the 
conquerors. 

The history of the Saxon heptarchy is obscure and 
uninteresting. It is sufficient to mark the duration of 
the several kingdoms, till their union under Egbert. 

The kingdom of Kent began A. D. 455, and con^ 
tinued till A. D. 827, during which period the Saxons 
were converted to Christianity. 

Northumberland began A. D. 547, and continued 
till A. D. 926. 

East Anglia began A. D. 575, and continued till 
A. D. 928. 

Mercia began A. D. 582, and continued to A. D. 
827. - 

Essex began A. D. 527, and ended A. D. 827. 

Sussex began A. D. 491, and ended A. D. 687. 

Wessex, which ultimately subdued and united the 
whole heptarchy, began A. D. 519, and ended A. D. 
827. 

Egbert, king of Wessex. having acquired the art 
of war and government at the court of Charlemagne, 
united these seven independent kingdoms, A. D. 827, 
and thus laid the foundation of the kingdom of England. 
His reign was disturbed by the Normans or Danes, 
who from time to time ravaged the coast, but were as 
often totally defeated (A. D. 838.) He left his kingdom 
to his son 

Ethelwolf, a prince better fitted to wear the 
cowl than the crown, during whose feeble reign the 
Danes returned, and continued their depredations un- 
molested. 

Alfred the Great, his youngest son, succeeded to 

* These colonies were principally composed of three valliant tribes o 
nations of Germany — the Jutes, the old Saxons, and the Angles. 



82 History of all Nations, 

the throne, in consequence of the death of his elder broi- 
thers. The Danes landed in great numbers, made 
themselves .masters of the sea-coasts, and of the most 
fertile provinces. They were at last defeated with great 
slaughter ; and Alfred allowed a body of the vanquished 
enemy to settle in Northumberland, on their consenting 
to submit to his government, and embrace Christianity. 
This great prince established a regular militia for the de- 
fence of his kingdom ; divided England into hundreds 
and tithings ; appointed trials by jury and county courts. 
He encouraged learning, navigation, and commerce. 

On the death of Alfred, A. D. 899, England relapsed 
into barbarism. During the weak administration of 
several of his successors, the Danes renewed their inva- 
sions, till Ethel red, a weak prince, at first endea- 
voured meanly to compound with them for his safety, 
and afterwards, with a cruelty incident to weak minds, 
formed the design of massacreing the Danes in the king- 
dom, A. D. 1002, which he carried into execution. 
Sweyn, king of Denmark, took vengeance on the Eng- 
lish for the slaughter of his countrymen, and compelled 
Ethelred to seek refuge in the court of his brother-in- 
law, Richard, duke of Normandy, A. D. 1013. 

His son, Edmond Ironside, after having bravely 
struggled for the independence of his kingdom, was 
at last betrayed by his general, Edric, and obliged to di- 
vide his dominions with Canute, son of the Danish king 
Sweyn. Edmund survived this division only a month, 
beino; murdered at Oxford by two of his chamberlains, 
A. D. 1017, whose treachery made way for the acces- 
sion of Canute, the Dane, to the throne of England. 
This prince, by the conquest of Norway, became the 
most powerful monarch of his time ; being sovereign 
of Denmark, Norway, and England. 

Of Haruljd Harefoot, and Hardicanute, his 
sons and successors, nothing is recorded that merits at- 
tention : only, that on the death of Hardicanute, the 
English shook off the Danish yoke, and placed on the 
throne of his sucessors, Edward, surnamed the Con- 
fessor, son of the unfortunate Ethelred. Though an 



England. 8S 

excellent prince, he disgusted the English by his par- 
tiality to the Normans, among whom he had been edu- 
cated -, and he declared William, duke of Normandy, 
his cousin, to be his successor. 

On the death of Edward, Harold, the son of earl 
Godwin, usurped the vacant throne ; but his right was 
disputed by the duke of Normandy, who landed on the 
coast of Sussex, at the head of 60,000 men. The bat- 
tle of Hastings, A. D. 1066, won by the Normans, 
placed William the Conqueror on the throne of Eng- 
land, and terminated the Anglo-Saxon monarchy in 
Britain. 

William, thus possessed of the crown, by a pre- 
tended will of king Edward, abetted by force of arms, 
with a prudent policy, endeavoured to conciliate the af- 
fections of the nobility and gentry, by confirming them 
in the possession of their lands and dignities ; but every 
where disarmed the natives, and placed ail real power in 
the hands of the Normans. He established the feodal 
government, divided the kingdom into baronies, and 
ordered a general survey to be taken of all the lands of 
England ; their extent in each district, their proprietors, 
tenures, value ; the quantity of meadow, pasture, wood, 
and arable land, which they contained ; and, in some 
counties, the number of tenants, cottagers, and slaves of 
all denominations, who lived upon them, A. D. 1081* 
This valuable piece of antiquity, 'called Domesday Book, 
is still preserved in the Exchequer, and helps to illus- 
trate to us the ancient state of England. William died 
A. D. 1087, and was succeeded in the duchy of Nor- 
mandy by his eldest son Robert, and the kingdom of 
England by his second son, 

William, surnamed Rurus, whose violent and 
tyrannical reign continued thirteen years, when on his 
death, Henry I. usurped the throne, which was the 
inheritance of his elder brother Robert of Normandy. — 
This prince, governed with severity. His domestic 
misfortunes were very great. His only sen William, 
who had attained his 18th year, had accompanied him 
on an expedition into Normandy, but perished on his 



84 History of all Nations. 

return, with all his retinue. The royal youth was anx- 
ious to get first to land ; and the captain of the vessel, 
being intoxicated with liquor, heedlessly ran her on a 
rock, where she was immediately dashed to pieces. — 
The king was so much affected by the news, that he 
is said never to have smiled mure (A. D. 1120.) His 
daughter Matilda married Geoffrey Plantagenet, son of 
the Count of Anjou. Henry, dying A. D. 1135, des- 
tined the succession of the kingdom to his daughter; 
bin his nephew 

Stephen usurped the throne. The despotism of the 
king, the licentiousness of the nobles, and the oppres- 
sion, of the people, invited and encouraged the earl of 
Gloucester, and David king of Scotland, to take up 
arms in suppoi t ol Matilda's right (A.D. 1138.) A long 
ant 1 bloody war ensued , which, after various successes, 
terminated in the succession being secured to Henry of 
Aivjou, Matilda's son. The usurper died the year after, 
when 

Henry II. (surnamed Plantagenet) was invested with 
the supreme power. He was the greatest prince of his 
time. He began his reign with re-establishing justice 
and good order, to which the English world had been 
long a stranger. He attempted next to reform the abu- 
ses o! the church, but was opposed in all his measures 
by Becket, archbishop of Canterbury. The Roman 
pontiff, and the king of France, espoused the caue of 
this haughty prelate. — Henry, dreading the sentence of 
excommunication, submitted with reluctance; and 
Becket w T as soon after murdered at the altar (A. D. 1170) 
and canonized. Having soothed the pope, who threat- 
ened to avenge the archbishop's murder, the king un- 
dertook the conquest of Ireland ; an enterprise which 
he had long meditated, and for which he had obtained a 
grant from pope Adrian IV. but which had been de- 
ferred by reason of his quarrels with the primate. This 
expedition proved successful. Though victorious in all 
quarters, and crowned with glory, this best and most 
indulgent of parents was obliged to maintain war against 
his own family. His sons rebelled, am] v:erQ support- 



England. 85 

ed by the kings of France and Scotland. This barba- 
rous behaviour preyed on his spirits, and soon put a pe- 
riod to his life (A, D. 1189.) 

Richard I. (Cceur de Lion, or Lion-hearted Hero) 
succeeded his father. This romantic prince embarked 
in the crusades. After a variety of adventures which 
occurred in his journey to Palestine, he defeated the 
Saracen emperor, Saladin, and arrived within sight of 
Jerusalem ; but being abandoned by his associates, he 
was obliged to relinquish his enterprise, and to conclude 
a truce with the infidels. On his return to Europe, he 
was shipwrecked near Ragusa, and put on the habit of a 
pilgrim, with an intention of taking his journey secretly 
through Germany. He was betrayed, and delivered 
to the emperor, Henry VI. who had taken offence at 
Richard's alliance with Tancred king of Sicily. Thus 
the gallant king of England, who had filled the whole 
world with his renown, found himself, during the most 
critical state of his affairs (his brother John having form- 
ed a rebellion in his absence) confined to a dungeon in 
the heart of Germany, loaded with irons, and entirely 
at the mercy of his enemy, the basest and most sordid 
of mankind!* Upon his releasement from captivity, he 
declared war against France, in which he was killed, in 
the 10th year of his reign, A. D. 1199. Leaving no 
issue, he was succeeded by his brother 

John, — an odious tyrant. He lost his continental 
dominions ; and soon after embroiled himself with the 
see of Rome, concerning the election of an archbishop 
of Canterbury. The kingdom was laid under the sen- 
tence of an interdict, and John excommunicated and 
deposed ; but by his despicable submission to the Ro- 
man pontiff, (A. D. 1213) by which he became still 
more contemptible, was restored. The English barons, 
taking advantage of the king's meanness and debase- 
ment, had recourse to arms, and extorted from him 
Magna Char ta, or the Great Charter, which was 



* M. Paris, Chron. T. Wjkes. 



86 History of all Aations. 

signed at Runnymede, between Windsor and Stains, 
(A. D. 1215,) a spot ever since deservedly celebrated, 
and ever hallowed by every zealous lover of liberty. — 
The perfidious monarch soon after attempted to recal 
the privileges he had granted.- The barons invited the 
French to their aid, and swore fealty to Lewis, son of 
Philip of France. John died, universally despised, 
A. D. 1216. The principal barons agreed to acknow- 
ledge the authority of his son Henry III. and obliged 
Lewis to evacuate the kingdom, 

Henry III. was a weak and contemptible prince. — 
To this reio;n we are indebted for the first rude outlines 
of the British house of commons. A parliament was 
held at Oxford, (A. D. 1259) and returns ordered to be 
made, not only of two knights from every shire, but 
also of deputies from the boroughs.* A second order 
of men was then introduced into the national council. — 
The earl of Leicester rebelled ; but, at the battle of 
Evesham, was defeated and killed. — Henry died A. D. 
1272, in the 56th year of his reign, the longest in the 
British annals, but which had been one continued scene 
of disorder and anarchy. 

Edward I. (Longshanks) his son, remarkable for the 
intrepidity of his character, succeeded. He confirmed 
Magna Charta, and attacked the Welch, who, uncon- 
quered by the Saxons, had preserved their independence. 
He obliged their prince, Lewellyn, after a desperate re- 
sistance, to submit — and united Wales to the crown of 
England, (A. D. 1282,) the principality of the king's 
eldest son. By a barbarous policy he ordered all the Welch 
bards to be collected together and put to death. Ed- 
ward afterwards meditated the subjection of Scotland ; 
but expired at Carlisle, A. D. 1307, in advancing to 
complete the conquest. 

The feeble and indolent Edward II. though enjoined 
by his father with his latest breath to prosecute the war, 
and never to desist till he had finally subdued the king- 



* Rymer, vol. i. M.Paris. Kerning'. Knvg-htom 



England. 8f7 

dom of Scotland, after a few weak efforts, relinquished 
the project. He disgusted the nation by his attachment 
to mean favorites. His queen, Isabella, entered into a 
conspiracy against him with one Roger Mortimer, her 
gallant, and other dissatisfied barons, who accused the 
king of incapacity for government, deposed and inhu- 
manly murdered him in prison, by holding him down 
violently with a table which they flung over him, and 
thursting into his fundament a horn, through which 
they burnt his bowels with a red hot iron.* Thus per- 
ished the unfortunate Edward II. — a prince born to 
obey ministers, not to govern a kingdom. 

Edward III. had spirit and abilities enough to avenge 
the death of his father. His mother's paramour, Mor- 
timer, was seized by his order, and perished by the hand 
of the hangman. This youthful and ambitiou s monarch 
claimed the kingdom of France, in right of his mother, 
the daughter of Philip the Fair. A war with France 
ensued (A. D, 1338) the event of which was prosper- 
ous. His heroic son, called the Black Prince, from the 
colour of his armour, won the battle of Cressy, A. D. 
1346. The French were again defeated at the battle of 
Poictiers, and John their king taken prisoner and 
brought to London. These splendid successes w T ere of 
no real advantage to England. In the conclusion of 
Edward's life, his fortunes declined. An extravagant 
attachment to Alice Pierce, a young lady of wit and 
beauty, gave such general disgust, as to become the ob- 
ject of a parliamentary remonstrance. The king did 
not long survive the death of his amiable son, the prince 
of Wales. He expired in the 51st year of his reign; 
one of the longest, and though the latter days of it were 
indeed somewhat obscured by the infirmities and follies 
of age, yet it certainly was one of the most glorious, in 
the English annals. 

His successor, Richard II. son of the Black Prince, 
was little able to recover what had been lost through the 



* Walsingham. T. de la Moore, 



88 History of all JSations. 

dotage of his grandfather. A poll-tax of three groats 
a- head on every person, male and female, above fifteen 
years of age, excited a most formidable insurrection, 
headed by Wat Tyler, which was quelled by the pru- 
dence and courage of Richard. His spirited behaviour 
at this juncture raised the highest expectations concern- 
ing him. But the presages of youth are often fallacious f 
He was a slave to unworthv favorites. Havinar confisca- 
ted the estate of his kinsman, Henry duke of Lancaster, 
he rebelled against, deposed and murdered the king. * 
Thus began the contest between the houses of York and 
Lancaster. 

The duke of Lancaster ascended the English throne 
under the name of Henry TV. A. D. 1399. He was 
the son of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, fourth son 
of Edward III. In his turbulent reign occurred little 
worthy of notice, except the act for burning the follow- 
ers of Wickliffe, a secular priest educated at Oxford, 
who during the reigns of Edward III. and Richard II. 
had preached the doctrine of reformation. 

Henry V. his son, began his reign with applause. 
He had passed his youth in the riot of pleasure, debauch- 
ery and extravagancies of every kind ; but on his com- 
ing to the throne, the cloud which his wild conduct 
had thrown over his character, vanished and it appear- 
ed brighter than if it never had been shaded by any er- 
rors. The first step of the young king was to suppress 
all party dissentions : he then, taking advantage of the 
civil disorders of France, determined to prosecute the 
English claim to the crown of that kincdom. He col- 
lected a considerable force, and gained the glorious vic- 
tory of Agincourt, A. D. 1415. He pursued these suc- 
cesses, and having recruited his forces and finances, 
marched to the gates of Paris. A treaty of peace fol- 
lowed, in which Henry was nominated regent, and ac- 
knowledged heir to the crown ; and marrying Catha- 
rine, the daughter of the French king, Charles VI. re- 



• F. Walsingham. Frcissard. 



England. 8Q 

eeived the kingdom of France as her dowry. The glory 
of Henry, now at the height, was suddenly restrained by 
the hand of nature : he was seized with a malady, which 
the surgeons of that age wanted skill to treat with judg- 
ment, namely, a fistula, which put a period to his life 
in the tenth year of his reign. * 

Henry VI. was only nine months old when he was 
proclaimed king of England and of France. A weak 
and contemptible prince. The French monarch Charles 
VII. gradually recovered his kingdom. Joan of Arc, 
called the Maid of Orleans, a pretended prophetess, 
compelled the English to raise the siege of Orleans, and 
established Charles on his throne. — England was now 
rent to pieces by intestine commotions. The incapaci- 
ty of the king appeared every day in a stronger light, — 
Richard, duke of York, descended by his mother from 
Philippa, only daughter of the duke of Clarence, second 
son of Edward Hi. aspired to the throne. Hostilities 
commenced ; and, after various success, the duke per- 
ished in the battle of Wakefield, Dec. 24, 1460. Ed- 
ward, his son, prepared to revenge his father's death. 
A bloody war succeeded, which terminated in the im^ 
prisonment of the unfortunate Henry, and the promo- 
tion of Edward duke of York to the throne. 

The animosity between the two contending families 
became implacable ; and the nation, divided in its affec- 
tions, took different symbols of party. The adherents 
of the house of Lancaster chose, as their mark of dis- 
tinction, the red rose; those of York assumed the 
white. And these civil wars were thus known over 
Europe by the name of the quarrel between the two 
roses, f 



* Catherine of France, his widow, married soon after his death, sir Ow- 
en Tudor, a gentleman of Wales, said to be descended from the ancient 
princes of that country. She bore him two sons ; the eldest of whom was 
created earl of Richmond ; the second, earl of Pembroke The family of 
Tudor, first raised to distinction by this alliance, afterwards mounted tc» 
the throne of England, in the person of Henry VII. 

( f Modern Europe. 

M 



90 History of all J\ations« 

Edward IV. having made his way to the throne 
through a scene of war, havoc, and devastation, endeav- 
oured to establish himself by acts of tyranny and cruelty. 
Crowned king by the hands of Guy, earl of Warwick, 
Edward was ungrateful to his champion and benefactor. 
The earl, resenting his ungenerous conduct, rebelled, 
deposed the king, and replaced Henry on the English 
throne. Edward fled to Holland. This revolution was 
of short duration. The young king soon returned, 
and gaining the victory ofBarnet, in which Warwick 
was killed, recovered his kingdom. From this time 
he sunk into indolence and pleasure. A violent dis- 
temper, occasioned by his irregularities, terminated his 
life, at the age of forty-two, A. D. 1483. 

His pon, Edward V. in his thirteenth year succeed- 
ed. This young prince, with lis brother the duke of 
York, were privately assassinated by their uncle, Rich- 
ard, duke of Gloucester, who usurped the throne. 

The multiplied crimes and atrocious vices of this 
usurper and murd rer, who was stiled Richard III. fil- 
led the kingdom with so much horror, that a conspiracy 
was formed in favor of the young earl of Richmond, A. 
D. 1470, who by his mother was descended frcm John 
of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, son of Edward III. and 
was the only remaining branch of the Lancastrian fami- 
ly. Richmond encountered the tyrant at Bosworth, and 
obtained a complete victory. Richard fell, and the crown 
was placed on Henry's head. 

Henry VII. confirmed in his title by the parlia- 
ment, immediately married the princess Elizabeth, eldest 
daughter of Edward IV. and thus united for ever the 
jarring claims of York and Lancaster. His adminis- 
tration was wise and politic. The singular enterprizes 
of Lambert Simnel (A. D. 1486) and of Perkin War- 
beck (A. D. 1492) who were made to personate Rich- 
ard duke of York, who had been murdered in the tower 
by Richard III. are the only events during this reign 
worth recording. He died of a consumption, at his fa- 
vorite palace of Richmond, in the 52d year of his age» 
and the 23d vear of his rei^n. 



England. 91 

His second and only surviving son succeeded, under 
the name of Henry VIII. Religious disputes form 
the important object of this period. — Wickliffe, in the 
reign of Richard II. was the first who combated in 
England the errors of the church of Rome. His doc- 
trines prepared for a subsequent revolution of opinions; 
but he had few open followers. The intemperate pas- 
sions of Henry were the immediate cause of the reforma- 
tion in England. His affections having been estranged 
from his queen, Catherine, he solicited a divorce : the 
pope hesitated, and Henry prevailed on the archbishop 
of Canterbury to annul the marriage, as a necessary 
step before he could marry Anne Boleyn. The pope 
condemned the sentence of the archbishop, and Henry 
in return shook off the authority of the see of Rome, 
and declared himself head of the national church. The 
unfortunate Anne was beheaded on a charge of infidelity, 
after whom the king successively married Jane Seymour, 
Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr. 
His whole reign abounded in acts of violence and tyran- 
ny, from which the nation was happilv delivered by his 
death, A. D. 1547. 

During the short reign of his only son, Edward 
VI. the protestant religion prevailed. 

Mary succeeded to the throne of England. The 
young, beautiful, and innocent lady Jane Grey, induced 
by her ambitious father-in-law, accepted the crown, and 
lost her head. Mary restored the Romish religion, and 
a most sanguinary persecution of the protestants filled 
the whole of this short, bigotted reign. Archbishop 
Cranmer ; Hooper, bishop of Gloucester ; Farrar, bishop 
of St. David's ; Ridley, bishop of London ; Latimer, 
bishop of Worcester ; and several other protestant di- 
vines, suffered martrydom. The loss of Calais to the 
French, affected Mary so deeply, that she fell into a slow 
fever, which put an end to her inglorious reign. 

The accession of her sister Elizabeth was followed 
by a firm establishment of protestantism. A liturgy 
was framed, and the hierarchy settled by archbishops, 
bishops, priests, and deacons. The affairs of Scotland 



92 History of all Nations. 

are deeply intervoven with those of England during this 
reign, occasioned by the rivalship and personal enmity 
between Mary, queen of Scots, and Elizabeth. Mary- 
was grandchild to Henry VII. by his eldest daughter, 
Margaret, and consort to the dauphin of France. Her 
attachment to the catholic religion was the principal 
cause of her misfortunes. A conspiracy formed by 
Babington, A. D. 1586, and the adherents cf the church 
of Rome, for the assassination of Elizabeth, and ihe es- 
tablishment of popery, to which Mary was accused of 
being privy, brought this amiable, accomplished, but 
unfortunate queen to the scaffold, A. D. 1587, a victim 
to the jealousy and fears of an offended rival : an act by 
which the English queen has for ever sullied the glory of 
her reign. Elizabeth's attention was now called to more 
distant dangers. Philip II. of Spain, determining to 
execute his ambitious project of the entire conquest of 
England, prepared a grand armada, vainly denominated 
Invincible, which was defeated, A. D. 1588, by the 
English fleet, under the earl of Effingham and sir Fran- 
cis Drake. The earl of Essex, the queen's favourite, 
was sent as deputy-lieutenant to Ireland, to quell a re- 
bellion which had been raised by the earl of Tyrone, 
who had assumed the title of king, A. D. 1599. Essex 
returned to England unsuccessful, and entered into a 
conspiracy against the queen, for which he was behead- 
ed, A. D. 1600. The queen's affection for him was so 
violent, that she became pensive, peevish, and melan- 
choly, and expired two years after, her body being to- 
tally wasted by anguish of mind and abstinence. 

With Elizabeth ended the house of Tudor. The 
accession of the family of Stuart, in the person of her 
successor, James I. forms a memorable sera in the his- 
tory of Great- Britain, and will furnish the subject of 
another chapter. 



England. 93 



CHAPTER XIII. 

James I. — Charles I. — Usurpation of Cromwell. — Charles 
II. — James II. — William III. — Anne. — George 
I. — George II. — George III. 

By the accession of James I. who was the sixth king 
of Scotland of that name, and grandson of Margaret, 
eldest daughter of Henry VII. the two kingdoms were 
united, which had been divided from the earliest ac- 
count of time, but destined by their situation to form 
one great monarchy. And by this junction of its whole 
native force, Great-Britain hath risen to an eminence 
and authority in Europe, that England and Scotland se- 
parately could never have attained. * 

This prince came to the crown with high notions of 
the regal power, which often betrayed him into impru- 
dencies and errors. The people began to aspire after a 
greater portion of liberty than they had hitherto en- 
joyed. The domestic tranquility was interrupted at 
the commencement of this reign, by the conspiracy of 
Cobham, Grey, and Raleigh. Their intention was to 
raise the king's cousin, Arabella Stuart, to the throne. 
The conspirators were executed. This was followed 
by the gunpowder treason ; a plot which excited uni- 
versal astonishment and horror. Its object was, the de- 
struction of the king and parliament This dreadful 
scheme was happily detected, and the authors of it were 
punished- The pacific disposition of James was unfa- 
vourable to the glory of the nation, and his attachment 
to young and unworthy favourites rendered him 
contemptible. He died A. D. 1625, in the 59th year 
of his age, and the 23d of his reign. 

Charles I. succeeded to the crown of his father at 
a very critical period, and with ideas of the royal peroga- 
tive much averse to the spirit of the times. Unable to 
obtain supplies from his first parliament, for the prose- 

* Robertson. 



94 , History of all A r atio?is. 

cution of a war in defence of his brother-in-law, the 
elector palatine, he quarreled with, and afterwards dis- 
solving them, endeavoured to raise money by loans 
from his subjects. The new parliament that succeeded 
was less complying than the former : they framed a pe- 
tition of rights, requiring the abolishment of loans from 
the subject, and taxes raised without parliamentary aid. 
To this the king reluctantly assented ; but still continu- 
ing imprudently to levy the imposts on tonnage and 
poundage,* without a new grant, the commons urged 
this as a violation of the petition of rights, and were dis- 
solved. A new parliament assembled, but being still 
less obsequious to the royal will, was once more dis- 
solved, and the king summoned his fifth and last par- 
liament. The discontents of the nation were now very 
great, and Charles, sensible of his errors, assented to a 
bill fixing the right of parliament alone to levy taxes, 
and consented to summons one every third year. His 
ministers the earl of Stafford and archbishop Laud, were 
impeached and beheaded. The conduct of the com- 
mons, hitherto laudable, became now unconstitutional 
and unjustifiable. They passed a bill to render their 
assembly perpetual, and arrogated to themselves the mi- 
litary and executive authority of the crown, the power 
of nominating the governors and lieutenants of all the 
fortified places, and declared it a breach of privilege to 
dispute the laws framed by parliament alone. The 
king issued proclamations against this usurpation. A 
civil war was the consequence, A. D. 1643. Charles 
was at first successful, bm the decisive battle of Naseby, 
A. D. 1645, in which the royal army was totally de- 
feated, gave the rebels the command of -the state. Hav- 
ing in- vain attempted a reconciliation, the king fled to 
Scotland, and was shortly afterwards delivered up by the 
commanders of the Scots army, for reasons best known 
to themselves ! Cromwell, who had headed the par- 
liamentary forces, which now consisted of a set of mili- 

* Tonnage was a duty upon all wines imported : poundage was a duty 
imposed, ad valorem, at the rate of I2d in the pound, on all other merchan- 
dize whatsoever. 



England. 95 

tary hypocrites and enthusiasts, seized the unfortunate 
monarch's person, and appointing a court of justice, 
proceeded with deliberate solemnity to the trial 
of his sovereign. The execution of this unfortu- 
nate prince, A. D. 1649, was followed by the dissolu- 
tion of monarchy. The commons passed an act, 
abolishing kingly power as useless, burdensome, and dan- 
gerous, and annulled the house of peers. 

A republican form of government was established on 
the ruins of monarchy, under the direction of the parlia- 
ment ; but the army very scon took the power out of 
their hands, and Oliver Cromwell, a private gen- 
tleman of Huntingdonshire, who had been appointed 
their commander-in-chief, usurped the government, with 
the title of Lord Protector of the three kingdoms. 
His administration was rigorous, but arbitrary. A slow 
fever put a period to his iife, Sept. 3, 1658. 

His eldest son, Richard, succeeded in the protec- 
torship ; but, from his Weaknees and incapacity, could 
not keep it. On the first appearance ofdifficulti.es, he 
resigned the government, and Henry Cromwell, lord- 
lieutenant of Ireland, followed his brother's example. — • 
Disorder and anarchy ensued. General Monk, then at 
the head of the army in Scotland, marched into England, 
procured the summons of a free parliament, and Charles, 
the eldest son of the unfortunate monarch, who had ta- 
ken refuge in France, sent a declaration of indemnity 
and liberty of conscience to the House. They received 
it, and proclaimed him king, A. D. 1660. 

The reign of Charles II. was the sera, of taste and 
genius ; though his court was the residence of voluptu- 
ousness and prodigality. — Guided by the worst of mi- 
nisters, his domestic administration was turbulent. He 
lived uneasy with his parliament, which, as he could 
not controul, he dissolved, and governed with abso- 
lute authority, and was at last poisoned. As he died 
without children, his brother, the duke of York, suc- 
ceeded to the throne by the title of 

James II. He openly encouraged popery, and was 
himself directed solely by romish priests. He adopted 



96 History of ail J\ations. 

the most despotic measures, invaded every part of th6 
constitution, committed the bishops to prison, and re- 
ceived the pope's nuncio in London. The nation, ex- 
asperated atthese incroachments upon their civil and re- 
ligious liberties, solicited the aid of the prince of Orange, 
nephew and son-in-law of James. He arrived in En- 
gland, and being received with general satisfaction, 
James, abandoned by all, abdicated the throne, and re- 
tired to France.* The parliament settled the crown on 
the prince and princess of Orange, who were proclaim- 
ed sovereigns of Great Britain, &x. by the title of 

King William and Queen Mary. — Both hou- 
ses passed a bill, or instrument of settlement, which 
regulated the line of succession, and provided against 
the return of those grievances which had driven the na- 
tion to the fiercest extremity, and effectualh secured 
from the future incroachments of the sovereign the most 
essential rights of the people. Thus was happily ter- 
minated the great struggle of privilege and prerogative, 
between the crown and the people, which commenced 
with the accession of the family of Stuart to the throne 
of England, and continued till their expulsion, when 
almost a century had elapsed. This revolution forms 
a grand eera in the English constitution. 

The unfortunate monarch, having obtained assistance 
from the French king Louis, embarked for Ireland ; 
but his attempt was not attended with success. The 
rebels were defeated near the Boyne, (A. D. 1690) and 
James returned to France. 

William was a prince of great vigour of mind, firm- 
ness of temper, and intrepidity of spirit. He was mak- 
ing vast preparations for carrying on war against the 
French, who, on the death of James II. had, in viola- 
tion of a treaty, acknowledged the son of that exiled 
prince king of Great Britain and Ireland, under the title 
of James III. when a fall from his horse threw him in- 
to a fever, which put a period to his life (A. D. 1702.) 



He died an exile in France, August 6, 1701. 



England* 97 

Anne, eldest surviving daughter of James II. and 
sister to queen Mary, succeeded to the English throne. 
Her reign was made illustrious by the success of her 
arms against France, under her general the great duke 
of Marlborough. She was married to prince George of 
Denmark, by whom she had several children; but none 
surviving her, George, son of Ernest Augustus, first 
elector of Brunswick, and Sophia, grand-daughter to 
James I. pursuant to the act of settlement, succeeded to 
the vacant crown, A. D. 1714. 

The first and second years of the reign of George 
I. were disturbed by an invasion of the kingdom in fa- 
vor of the pretender. This rebellion was fortunately 
suppressed, and the remainder of his reign was prosper- 
ous to his people, and glorious to himself. A declara- 
tion of war against Spain, for the protection qf com- 
merce, took place A. D. 1718. The success^ of the 
English brought on a suspension of arms. When 
peace was restored to the continent, England was thrown 
into disorder by the South- Sea scheme, and by other 
aerial projects for the increase of the national wealth, A. 
D. 1720.— The king died on the road to Hanover, and 
left the vacant throne to his son, 

George II. At this time Great-Britain was in a 
most flourishing condition, both at home and abroad, and 
had a powerful influence in all the courts of Europe, 
Spain excepted ; but a congress had been agreed to for 
terminating the differences between the two crowns, and 
for the general pac.fication of Europe, which was acconru 
plished in 1729. The Spaniards, in violation of the 
treaty, continued to make depredations on the British 
commerce in America. This fired the nation with re- 
sentment, and brought on a declaration of war, which, 
on the part of the English, was attended with signal 
success. The French having assisted Spain, hostilities 
commenced between Great Britain and F;ance. While 
war raged with fury on the continent, a rebellion broke 
out in Scotland, A. D. 1745. The young pretender, 
being encouraged by many of the principal Scotch fami- 
lies to land there, was received with open arms, his 



98 History of all J\ations, 

father proclaimed king of Great Britain, and himself 
prince regent. Many persons of distinction embraced 
his cause. But the decisive battle of Culloden, A. D. 
1746, put a period to this dangerous insurrection, and 
the pretender, after suffering incredible hardships, made 
his escape to France. " 

In the year 1748, the war with France and Spain was 
concluded, and the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle bigned; but 
the French incroaching on the boundaries of the English 
provinces in North America, orders were sent to the 
governors of the British settlements to oppose force by 
force, A. D. 1754. War was accordingly declared. — 
Minorca was lost, and admiral Byng, who had been sent 
to the relief of it, was tried, condemned, and shot, for 
neglect of duty in an engagement with the French fleet, 
which covered the siege. This misfortune was most 
amply compensated by the success of the British arms 
in the reduction of Surat and Pondicherry, in the East- 
Indies. The English likewise made themselves mas- 
ters of Guadaloupe, Quebec, Montreal, and every other 
place within the government of Canada; Goree, and 
the other French settlements on the river Senegal, in 
Africa. In the midst of these rapid and extensive con- 
quests, George II. finished his long career of glory, 
dying on the 25th of October, 1760, in the 77th year of 
his age, and the 34th year of his reign. 

His Britannic Majesty was succeeded in his regal and 
electoral dominions by his grandson, George III. in the 
23d year of his age. He came to the crown beyond all 
dispute the most powerful monarch in Europe. The 
war was carried on with vigour. The island of Belle- 
isle, on the coast of France ; Martinico (the most im- 
portant of the French West- India islands) the Havannah, 
in the west; and Manilla, with the whole range of the 
Philippines, in the east, among other valuable acquisi- 
tions, submitted to the English. Hostilities continued 
till 1763. 

In 1776, the colonies in North America declared 
themselves independent of Great-Britain. This circum- 
stance involved England in a new war. France, Spain, 



England. 99 

and Holland, joined the Americans. Peace was con- 
cluded between all the contending powers in 1783 ; 
when the independence of the United States was acknow- 
ledged by the British king and parliament. In the year 
1793, England engaged in another war with France : at 
the commencement, the Spaniards and Dutch declared 
themselves on the side of Great-Britain ; but one French 
army took entire possession of the Netherlands ; and 
another, marching into Spain, compelled a change of 
politics in that kingdom. During this contest, the 
British were not always successful in their battles by 
land, but their naval victories were unprecedentedly 
splendid. The principal of them were, that of Lord 
Howe over the French fleet, on the 1st of June, 1794 ; 
that over the Spaniards, by Sir John Jervis, (now Lord 
St. Vincent) on the 14th of February, 1797; another 
in the same year, by Admiral Duncan, over the Dutch 
fleet, October 11th ; and the total defeat of the French 
fleet in the Nile, by Admiral Nelson, on the 1st of Au- 
gust, 1798. On the 21st of October, 1805, the British 
fleet, consisting of 27 sail of the line and 4 frigates, un- 
der the command of Admiral Lord Nelson, engaged the 
combined fleets of France and Spain, off Trafalgar, 
near Cadiz, consisting of 33 sail of the line and 4 fri- 
gates, 18 French and 15 Spanish : after a desperate 
conflict of 4 hours, 19 of the combined fleet struck their 
colours, and a French 74 was blown up. In this me- 
morable engagement, Admiral Nelson was killed about 
the middle of the action, by a ball in his left breast. 
From these, and a number of inferior conquests, nearly 
the whole of the French, Dutch, and Spanish marine, 
have fallen into the hands of the British. 

The union of Great- Britain and Ireland took place on 
the 1st day of January, 1801 ; and the Imperial Par- 
liament met at Westminster, on the 22d of January, in 
the same year. 

From the late failure of the coali-ion, upon the conti- 
nent, Great-Britain must now contend with the gigantic 
power of France, and probably with a part of that very 
coalition, single handed. 



100 History of all hations.' 

The official return of the volunteer force in England, 
as made out at the war-office, on the 4th of November, 
1804, biates the whole number to be three hundred and 
thirty -five thousand two hundred and nine effective men ; 
oi whom two hundred and ninety-seven thousand five 
hundred and two are infantry, thirty-one thousand five 
huudred cavalry, and six thousand two hundred and se- 
ven artillery ; making, with the regulars and militia, an 
army of five hundred thousand. 

irom this statement, we should naturally draw the 
conclusion, that if the emperor of the French, in an 
evil hour, should seriously attempt to invade b ngland, 
and by some astonishing caprice of fortune, evade its 
" wooden walls," he will meet with a warm reception, 
from so many sturdy John Bulls, aided by heroic sans- 
culottes Caledonians, and the gallant sons of hibernia* 
Let us rather hope 

That blood and carnage -will subside, 
And Europe's sons in peace abide : 
That commerce, like the wind, be free, 
And mankind live in amity: 

However desirable such an event may be, we can 
never expect the consummation of our present philan- 
thropic wishes, till the gospel of truth (which inculcates 
fraternal benevolence towards our fellow men of every 
hue and clime) shall influence the minds of the rulers 
of nations. 

Ancient history furnishes us with numerous instances 
wherein rulers have felt power and forgot right. * 
What the emperor of the French has recently done, and 
is doing by land, and Great-Britain b} sea, fully corro- 
borates what the historic page relates of the natural ten- 
dency of the human mind to inordinate ambition and 
the abuse of power. 

Language.— The English language is compounded 
of several others, but more particularly of Saxon, Cel- 
tic, French, and Latin ; but the former predominates. 
This, instead of rendering it defective, gives it innume- 

* The American government has hitherto been an honourable exeeptiqs. 



England. 101 

rable graces, since it has incorporated most of the 
beauties, and rejected the defects of the languages of 
which it is composed. Hence, it is said, to be more 
energetic than the French, more manly than the Italian, 
more copious than the Spanish, and more elegant than 
the German. 

(Religion. — The established religion of England is 
a protestant episcopal church ; but all sorts of religions 
are either connived at or tolerated. The king of Great- 
Britian is acknowledged as supreme head of the Angli- 
can church, governed by two archbishops and twenty- 
four suffragans, each of these enjoying the title of lord, 
and have precedent immediately after viscounts, in par- 
liament, &c. The two archi-episcopal sees, are those 
of Canterbury and York. The archbishop of Canter- 
bury is stiled the primate of all England, is ihe first peer 
in the kingdom ; precedes all dukes and great officers 
of the crown, next to the royal family ; and performs 
the ceremony of the coronation. 

A short delineation of the English constitution as it stands 
at present. 

The legislative power resides in parliament, and the 
constituent parts of parliament are king, lords, and com- 
mons. Each house has a negative on the other, and the 
king on both. 

The executive power of government is lodged in the 
crown — the king is the chief magistrate — the chief of 
all courts of judicature — the fountain of honor — super- 
intendant of commerce — head of the church — comman- 
der- in-chief of the sea and land forces — arbiter of peace 
and war — and responsible to no judicature. 

These powers of the crown are thus limited and res- 
trained : The king is dependent on parliament for all 
subsidies — the parliament must be assembled once in 
three years— the king cannot alter the established reli- 
gion — he cannot interfere with the courts of judicature 
in the administration of justice — cannot alter the standard 
of money — cannot raise land forces, without the consent 



102 History of all Nations. 

of parliament. — The king's ministers are responsible 
for all public measures. Freedom of debate in parlia- 
ment cannot be questioned, &c« &c. 



chapter xiv. * 

5PAIN. 

Under the Carthaginians, — The Romans, — The Vandals, 
— And the Moors. — Arragon aud Castille under Ferdi- 
nand and Isabella. — Expulsion of the Moors — Disco- 
very of America. 

At the western extremity of the ancient world, is 
situated Spain ; once a great and powerful kingdom. It has, 
in every age, invariably preserved the same natural lim- 
its ; the Pyrenaean mountains, the Mediterranean, and 
the Atlantic Ocean. 

Its native inhabitants were divided into a number of 
small independent tribes, of which those called the 
Celtiberians, Cantaberians, and Asturians, were the most 
powerful. 

Prior to the conquests of the Carthaginians, we know 
nothing of the transactions of these barbarians. This 
opulent and powerful state subdued all the southern 
parts of Spain, where they built Gades, now called Ca- 
diz. They were dispossessed by the Romans, b. C. 
191, who gradually reduced the whole country to a Ro- 
man province, in which situation it flourished four cen- 
turies under the protection of the emperors. 

During this period, Spain enjoyed perfect tranquility 
and domestic happiness. Its cities were numbered 
with the most illustrious of the Roman world. The va- 
rious plenty of the animal, the vegetable, and the mine- 
ral kingdoms, was improved and manufactured by the 
skill of an industrious people ; and the peculiar advanta- 
ges of naval stores contributed to support an extensive 
and profitable trade. 



Spain. 103 

Orrthe decline of the Roman empire, in the beginning 
of the fifth century, this remote and sequestered coun- 
try became a prey to the Suevi, the Vandals, and the 
Alani ; barbarians that poured with an irresistable tor- 
rent from the frontiers of Gaul to the sea of Africa, and 
fixed their permanent seats in the depopulated country. 
In the division which they made of the kingdom, Galli- 
cia was shared between the Suevi and the Vandals ; the 
Alani were scattered over the provinces of Carthagena 
and Lusitania, from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic 
Ocean ; and the fruitful territory of Bcetica was alloted to 
the Silingi, another branch of the Vandalic nation.* 

At the request of the Roman emperor, Honorius, the 
Gothic king, Adolphusf (or Athulosus,) who had mar- 
ried his sister Placidia, A. D. 414, turned his arms 
against the barbarians of Spain, whom he subdued, and 
founded the kingdom of the Goths, called the Visigoths, % 
A. D. 411. His palace was at Barcelona. 

The last of the Gothic kings in Spain was Roderic, § 
The Mahometan religion was already established in ma- 
ny countries. Mahomet, its founder, who had erected 
at Mecca a spiritual and temporal kingdom, died in 
632 ; and his countrymen, the Arabs or Saracens, 
soon after over- ran great part of Asia. They were 
masters of Mauritania, || now Barbary, when count Ju- 
lian, whose daughter king Roderic had dishonored, im- 
plored their aid. With a powerful army they crossed 
the Straits, invaded vSpain, and, by the decisive battle of 
Xeres in Andalusia, A. D. 712, subverted the kingdom 
of the Visigoths, in that region of Europe. Muza, vice- 
roy of Africa, under the caliph Walid, completed the 
conquest of Spain. 

A small remnant of the Gothic monarchy maintained 
itself among the mountains of Asturia, where Pelagius, 



• Idacius. Mariana. Gibbon. Playfair. 

■j- Brother-in-law of Alaric. 

j Or Western Goths : Ostrogoths were those who settled east. 

§. Isidor. Chron. Goth. &c. 

f\ From thence called Maures, or Moors. 



104 History of all Nations. 

the successor of Roderic, retired in the year 718, with 
a multitude of Christians, and founded the little king- 
dom of Asturias, or Oviedo, as it was afterwards called, 
which he defended by his valor, and transmitted to his 
posterity. Garcias Ximenes also, in 758, founded tie 
kingdom of Navarre, which became one of the most 
considerable Christian principalities in Spain. 

Spain, thus conquered by the Saracens, was alloted to 
governors dependent on the vicero}^ of Africa till 750, 
at which time a revolution happened in the Mahometan 
government, which gave birth to another in Spain. Ci- 
vil wars arose among the Moslem themselves, which the 
caliphs, or vicars, the successors of Mahomet, were 
unable to quell. At length that august dignity, which 
included both the highest regal and sacerdotal eminence, 
passed from the family of the Omniades to that of the 
Abassides.* 

Abdurrahman, called also Almanzor, a prince of 
the Omaadline, not finding himself secure in Africa, fled 
into Spain, where he founded an independent ki gdcm, 
including all the provinces that had been subject to the 
Moorish government. He fixed his residence at Cor- 
doua, which he made the seat of the arts, of magnifi- 
cence, and pleasure. This family kept possession of the 
throne about 300 years. 

In the beginning of the eleventh century, the race of 
Abdurrahman being extinct, the kingdom of Cordoua 
was dismembered. The haughty grandees usurped the 
title of king, and many petty principalities were founded 
on the ruins of this great empire. Toledo, Valentia, 
Seville, Saragossa, and almost every city in Spain, were 
governed by an independent sovereign. The provinces 
were changed into kingdoms, which multiplied in the 
same manner among the Christians, who had a king of 
Leon, of Navarre, of Castille, of Arragon, Sec. &c. 

In this divided state, Spain long remained ; and wars 
were continually carried on between the Christ- 



* Modern Europe. 



Spain. 105 

sans and Moors. This was the age of gallantry and 
knight-errantry . f 

In the 15th century, all the kingdoms in Spain, Portu- 
gal excepted, were united, by the marriage of Ferdinand, 
king of Arragon, to Isabella, sister of Henry IV. king 
of Castille. In 1492, Ferdinand conquered Grenada, 
which completed the extinction of the kingdom of the 
Moors in Spain, after it had continued about eight years. 
The expulsion of the Jews followed, and the establish- 
ment of the inquisition prevented their return. Ferdi- 
nand took the title of King of Spain and Catholic Ma- 
jesty. 

At this time Christopher Columbus, patronised by 
the Spanish queen Isabella, sailed from the port of Palos 
in Andalusia, and discovered the Archipelago of Ameri- 
ca, to which he gave the name of West-Indies. In a 
second and third voyage he discovered the continent of 
the New World, to which Americus Vespusius after- 
wards gave his own name. 

Charles I. grandson of Ferdinand by his daughter 
Joanna, who had married Philip, archduke of Austria, 
succeeded to the crown of Spain in the year 1516, and 
was afterwards elected emperor. After a long and tur- 
bulent reign, he formally resigned the crown to his son 
Philip II. January 1556, and shut himself up in a mon- 
astery, where he died. 

Philip II. thus became possessed of Spain, the 
Netherlands, and some Italian states, together with all 
his father's dominions in Africa and America. The 
reign of this monarch is an interesting object of atten- 
tion. He was a gloomy, jealous, haughty, vindictive and 
inexorable tyrant. He married Mary of England, and 



f Besides the many kings at this time in Spain, who amounted to near 
the number of twenty, there were also many independent lords, who came 
on horseback completely armed, and followed by several 'squires, to offer 
their service to the princes and princesses engaged in war. The princes 
with whom these lords engaged, girded them with a belt, and presented 
them with a sword, with which they gave them a slight blow on the 
shoulder ; and hence the origin of knight-errants, and of the number of 
single combats which so long desolated Spain. — Turner. 

O 



106 History of all Nations. 

by his influence involved that kingdom in a war with 
France. Italy and the low countries were the scene of 
hostilities ; and the French being defeated by the com- 
bined armies of England and Spain, in the famous bat- 
tle of St. Quintin, Philip erected the Escurial, a palace 
in the neighborhood of Madrid, in honor of the victory. 
Zealous for the catholic religion, he resolved to extirpate 
heresy from his dominions. A sanguinary persecution 
followed ; and seven provinces of the Netherlands formed 
a league of union in the common defence of their civil 
and religious liberties. They chose William I. prince 
of Orange, their general, admiral, and chief magistrate, 
with the title of Stadtholder. This treaty was signed at 
Utrecht, A. D. 1579. On the death of Don Henry, 
king of Portugal, there arose a competition for the va- 
cant throne. Philip, victorious over his competitors, 
obtained that kingdom, and annexed it to his own do- 
minions, A. D. 1580. The Spanish monarch afterwards 
projected the conquest of England, and equipped the 
Invincible Armada. The Spaniards were defeated, and 
their armament totally destroyed. In the midst of 
forming new plans for the support of popery, Philip 
died, A. D. 1598. 

Spain, which during the reign of Philip II. had been 
one of the most formidable powers of Europe, declined 
in her influence in the succeeding reigns. 

Philip III. succeeded to the crown. The finances 
were in a most disordered state. He was compelled to 
conclude a disadvantageous peace with the Dutch. He 
expelled the remaining Moors and Jews from Spain ; and 
his court became a scene of faction and intrigue. 

Under Philip IV. who succeeded in 1621, the 
disorders of the kingdom increased. The losses and 
defeats of the Spaniards in all parts were very great. 
Brasil was taken by the Dutch, and Catalonia revolted 
to France. Portugal, exasperated with the load of their 
taxes, rebelled. The duke of Braganza* caused him- 

* Whose grandfather had been deprived of his right to the erown of 
Portugal by Philip II, 



Spain. 10T 

self to be proclaimed king, and was acknowledged by 
the whole nation under the title of John IV. From 
this period, Portugal has been independent.. He died 
A. D. 1665, leaving the Spanish crown to his infant 
son, 

Charxes II. two years old. His continual sickly 
bad state of health made his death daily expected. 
There being no prospect of issue, a secret treaty of par- 
tition was entered into by William of England, Louis 
of France, and the states of Holland, that on the event- 
ual demise of the king of Spain, his dominions should 
be divided among them. Charles, to defeat this scheme, 
signed a will, by which he left the whole to Philip duke 
of Anjou, second son of Louis, dauphin of France, who 
succeeded under the name of 

Philip V. The emperor* refusing to acknowledge 
hip title, entered into a treaty with the king of England, 
and the States General of the United Provinces, the 
avowed object of which was, " To procure satisfaction 
" to his imperial majesty, in regard to the Spanish suc- 
*' cession; to obtain security to the English and Dutch 
" for their dominions and commerce; to prevent the 
" union of the two great monarchies of France and 
" Spain ; and to hinder the French from possessing the 
* ' Spanish dominions in America, t ' ' This confederacy, 
which was called the grand alliance, kindled the 
flames of war, and involved great part of Europe in 
blood, till the peace of Utrecht, A. D. 1713, confirmed 
him in his dignity. This weak but virtuous prince, 
the first of the house of Bourbon who sat on the Spanish 
throne, died 1746, leaving the crown to his son, 

Ferdinand VI. a mild pacific prince, whose reign 
is, in consequence, barren of events. He was thrown 
into a deep melancholy by the death of his queen, and 
breathed his last on the 10th of August, 1759. 

* Philip IV. left two daughters ; the eldest, Maria Theresa, married to 
the king of France, and the other to the emperor ; both these princes, there- 
fore, took up arms about the right of succession. 

( f Voltaire, Lamberti, D« Torcy, 8cc, 



108 History of all hatiom. 

His brother, Charles III. succeeded to the govern- 
ment of Spain. In 1761, he entered into a cor- 
respondence with the court of Versailles, which ter- 
minated in the famous family compact, concluded 
by the four sovereigns of the house of Bourbon, against 
England and her allies. This compact produced mu- 
tual declarations of war by the courts of London and 
Madrid, and the greatest preparations were made by 
both for commencing hostilities with vigour and effect. 
The year following terminated the war, and restored 
peace to Europe. The year 1767 is memorable for the 
expulsion of the Jesuits. Spain renewed hostilities with 
England in the year 1779, and failed in the favourite ob- 
ject of the war, the recovery of Gibraltar. Peace was 
concluded with England in 1783, and Charles III. died, 
and was succeeded by his son, 

Charles IV. who is the present reigning sovereign. 
The indecent reception of the interference of the court 
of Madrid in favour of Louis XVI. and the subsequent 
execution of that unfortunate monarch, induced his ca- 
tholic majesty to declare war against France on the 22d * 
of March, 1793. 

The repeated defeats of the Spanish armies by the 
French, obliged his catholic majesty, in 1795, to de- 
tach himself from the confederacy. This conduct gave 
the greatest pleasure to the generality of the Spanish na- 
tion ; France was delighted with so great a dimunition 
of the coalition, and a treaty of peace was concluded at 
Basle, in the month of July, by which his catholic ma- 
jesty ceded ail his part of Hispaniola, in the West- In- 
dies ; and the convention agreed to restore all their con- 
quests in Spain. It was also agreed that Spain should 
recognize the French and Batavian republics. 

Towards the close of the year 1796, Spain was drawn 
into an alliance with the French republic, and persuaded 
to declare war against Great- Britain. Spain is at present 
at war with Great- Britain ; and so great is the influence 
of the emperor of the French over the king of Spain, 
that he dare not make peace without his permission 1 



Portugal 109 

Religion. — The religion of the church of Rome is 
practised in Spain with the greatest scrupulosity and 
pomp. In no country is there more praying and cere- 
mony, and less real Christianity. The Spaniards are in- 
deed mere slaves to the clergy, who so artfully hood- 
wink them, that they do not perceive the chains they 
wear; or, if they perceive them, bear them willingly ; 
and, when -they gall them, dare not so much as vent a 
sigh after freedom. Under any disappointment, either 
in views of avarice or ambition, the clergy have their 
dreadful inquisition at hand, which seizes both on ho- 
nour asd life ; so that the most unspotted innocence es- 
teem it a great favour to come off only with the loss of 
their ibrtune. But the power of this horrible and ty- 
rannical tribunal is now much reduced by the interposi- 
tion of the late and present kings of Spain. 



chapter xv. 

PORTUGAL. 

Ancient Inhabitants — Discoveries of the Portuguese hi 
the Fifteenth Century — Freed from the Spa?iish 
Yoke. 

The kingdom of Portugal now fills the place of the 
warlike country of the ancient Lusitanians, in that great 
peninsula at present so unequally divided between two 
sovereigns, and shared the fate of the other Spanish pro- 
vinces in the fall of the Roman empire, being succes- 
sively subject to the depredations of the Suevi, the 
Goths, and the Moors. 

It regained its liberty about the middle of the twelfth 
century, by the valour of Henry of Lorraine, grandson 
of Robert king of France. This young prince assisted 
Alphonso, king of Castile and Leon, so effectually 
against the Moors, that the Castilian monarch rewarded 
him with Theresa, his natural daughter, and that part of 



1 10 History of all Nations. 

Portugal which had been recovered by the Christians 
from the Saracen invaders, with the title of Earl, for her 
fortune. 

His son Alphonso Henriquez succeeded as earl A. 
D. 1095 ; and having obtained a decisive victory over 
five Moorish kings,* July 25, 1129, his soldiers pro- 
claimed him king, and the holy see confirmed his regal 
dignity. t The kings of Portugal, like those of Spain, 
long spent their force in combating the Moors, and had 
no connexion with the rest of Europe. A detail of 
those barbarous wars would be equally void of instruc- 
tion and amusement. I shall therefore only observe 
that the succession continued uninterrupted in the house 
of Alphonso, till the death of Ferdinand, in 1383, 
when John of Castile, who had married the infanta of 
Portugal, claimed the crown, as the king had left no male 
issue. But the states of Portugal, after an inter-reg- 
num of eighteen months, gave it to John, natural broth- 
er of their deceased sovereign. 

This John, surnamed the Bastard, no less politic 
than enterprising, proved worthy of his new dignity. — 
Under the direction of his son, prince Henry, a bold and 
enlightened genius, the Portuguese first projected dis- 
coveries in the Western Ocean. The island of Madei- 
ra A. D. 1442, the Azores, and the Cape de Verd isl- 
ands, were discovered, and added to the dominions of 
Portugal. 

His great grandson, John II. a prince of the most 
profound sagacity and extensive views, first made Lis- 
bon a free port. The Portuguese under this reign prose- 
cuted their discoveries with ardour and success. The 
river Zara, on the other side of the Line, conducted 
them to the kingdom of Congo, in the interior part of 
Africa, where they made easy conquests, and establish- 
ed an advantageous commerce A. D. 1484. Captain 
Diaz passed the extreme point of Africa, to which he 



* On this occasion he assumed the present arms borne by the kings ot 
Portugal ; viz. five Moors" heads. 
\ Neufville, Hist, gen de Port. 



Portugal. Ill 

gave the name of the Stormy Cape ; but the king, who 
saw more full) 7 the importance of that discovery, styled 
it the Cape of Good Hope. 

Emanuel adopted the plan of his predecessors. He 
sent out a fleet under the command of Vasco de Gama, 
who encircled the eastern coast of Africa, and ranging 
through unknown seas, happily arrived at the city of 
Calicut, on the coast of Malabar, on the higher part of 
the western side of the great peninsula of India A. D. 
1498.* Other vessels were sent out under the com- 
mand of Alvarez de Cabral A. D. 1580, who discover- 
ed Brasil, &c. 

His son John III. admitted the new-founded order of 
the Jesuits A. D. 1510, of which he was a member, 
previous to any other European prince. — He sent a 
multitude of missionaries to convert the eastern nations, 
and among the rest, the famous Francis Xavier, founder 
of the order. 

Sebastian, his grandson, began to reign A. D. 
1557. Smit with a passion for military glory, this 
prince determined to signalize himself by an expedition 
against the Moors in Africa, where his ancestors had ac- 
quired so much renown, in which he and his army per- 
ished. Leaving no issue, 

His uncle, cardinal Henry, ascended the throne ; who 
also dying without children, many competitors for the 
crown appeared ; among whom were Philip II. king of 
Spain, nephew to Henry by the mother's side; the duke 
of Braganza, married to the grand-daughter of Emanuel ; 
Don Antonio, prior of Crato, bastard of the infant Don 
Lewis ; the duke of Savoy, the duke of Parma, Cathe- 
rine of Medicis, and pope Gregory XIII. who, extraor- 
dinary as it might seem, attempted to renew the obsolete 
claim of the holy see to the sovereignty of Portugal. 
Philip prevailed over his rivals, and was proclaimed 
king of Portugal, Sept. 12, 1580. 

Portugal remained sixty years under the dominion 
of the kings of Spain. Irritated by the despotic rule of 

* Modern Europe. Hist . Ge'n. des Voyages, torn. i. 



112 History of all Nations. 

their Spanish governors, they had long sought to break 
their chain. At length the dissatisfaction became so 
general, that a plot was formed in favor of the duke of 
Braganza, whose grandfather had been deprived of his 
right to the crown by Philip II. The revolt began at 
Lisbon, December 1, 1664. John duke of Braganza 
was raised to the throne under the title of John IV. 
almost without bloodshed, and Portugal became again 
an independent kingdom. The recovery of Brasil, 
which had been conquered by the Dutch, restored it, in 
a great measure, to its former lustre. 

His son, Alphonso VI. succeeded in 1665, but, on 
account of his cruelties, was deposed, and the sceptre 
was transferred, A. D. 1668, to his brother, 

Peter II. who, by a dispensation from the pope, 
married the daughter of his brother Alphonso. He 
reigned peacefully thirty years, and left the crown to his 
son, 

John V. under whose mild government the arts began 
to flourish. 

Joseph II. his son, filled the throne on the death of 
his father, A. D. 1750. In this reign Portugal was 
visited by a more dreadful calamity than even war itself. 
A violent earthquake, November 1, 1755, laid the city 
of Lisbon in ruins. About ten thousand persons lost 
their lives, and many of the survivors, deprived of their 
habitations, and altogether destitute of the means of sub- 
sistence, were obliged to take up their abode in the open 
fields. But they were not obliged to perish. The 
British parliament, though pressed with new demands to 
prosecute a war they had just entered into against 
France, generously voted one hundred thousand pounds 
sterling, for the relief of the unhappy sufferers; and 
this noble instance of public liberality was enhanced by 
the manner of conferring the benefit. A number of 
ships, laden with provisions and cloathing, were imme- 
diately dispatched for Lisbon, where they arrived so 
opportunely, as to preserve thousands from dying of 
hunger and cold, f 

■f Smollet. 



Poland. 113 

In the beginning of the year 1777, Joseph died, and 
was succeeded by his daughter, 

Mary Frances Isabella, who married, by a dis- 
pensation from the pope, her uncle, Don Peter, brother 
to the late king, and is the present reigning sovereign ; 
but the deranged state of her mind is such, that the king- 
dom is manuged by a regency. 

Religion. — The Portuguese, like the Spaniards,, 
believe that Christianity was made known to them by 
the apostle James the elder : in their religious notions 
they are very bigotted. The Inquisition, which was in- 
troduced by king John III. and has since been set up in 
all the Portuguese dominions, except Brazil, is very ac- 
tive in detecting those they call heretics, and no less ri- 
gorous in punishing them. Impious, cruel, and inhu- 
man as this tribunal is, yet its festivals or solemn burn* 
ings, called auto da fe, or the act of faith, used to af- 
ford the highest delight to the infernal bigots, who, 
while their fellow creatures, the supposed heretics, were 
burning in the flames, cried aloud, " Oh, what great 
goodness! Praised be the holy office ! !" Blasphemy, 
sodomy, heresy, and the conversion of the Jews, at pre- 
sent come under the cognizance of this terrific tribunal. 



POLAND. 

Situation — Lech — Dukes — Woy woods — Cracus Piast 
— Third Race of Kings — Demolition. 

Poland, anciently called Sarmatia, is bounded on the 
north by the Baltic and the province of Livonia ; on the 
east by Russia and Tartary ; on the south by Hungary ; 
and on the west by Germany. 

This extensive tract of land being abdicated by its 
original inhabitants, who, on the fall of the Roman em- 
pire, joined the plunderers of the north, and migrated 
in hopes of obtaining a more fertile and cultivated 



114 History of all Nations . 

country, fell into the hands of a vagrant people, who, un- 
der Lech, had left the dreary coasts of the Cimmerian 
Bosphorus. This revolution took place, it is supposed, 
in the year of the Christian aera five hundred and fifty. 
His descendants kept possession for two centuries, under 
the title of Dukes. The events that we find recorded dur- 
ing this period, may be justly considered as fabulous. 

On the extinction of the family of Lech, Poland was 
governed by twelve Palatines, or Woywoods, who 
divided the kingdom into the same number of provinces, 
erected a kind of aristocracy, and in a great measure po- 
lished this rude and barbarous people. Parties and 
dissentions soon after arising, their former government, 
under a duke or prince, was re-established, and the su- 
preme command given to Cracus, who expelled the 
East-Franks out of his country, built the city of Cra- 
cow, and restored the republic to its tranquility, A. D. 
700. 

After his posterity (who enjoyed the ducal crown 
till the commencement of the ninth century) failed, 
anarchy and confusion for some time succeeded; at 
length the Poles, to put a period to the horrors of a ci- 
vil war, invested Piast, at that time a low peasant, 
with supreme power. He governed with singular suc- 
cess, and his family flourished for several ages after in 
Poland. It is remarkable, that all the natives of the 
country, who are chosen kings, are to this day called 
Piasts. 

BoleslausCbobray, the fifth in succession from 
Piast, having made great additions by conquest, solici- 
ted the emperor, Otho III. to erect his ducal dominions 
into a kingdom, for which he did the emperor ho- 
mage, and agreed to hold his territories of him as a fief 
of the empire. This happened in the year 1000 ; from 
which time the sovereigns of Poland, who before had 
been satisfied with the title of Duke, assumed the more 
honourable appellation of King. 

Little is recorded of the immediate successors of Bo- 
leslaus, except the civil wars and intestine commotions, 
which were very frequent. 



Poland. 115 

With Casimer III. A. D. 1370, the dynasty of the 
Piasts ended, after it had continued five hundred and 
twenty-eight years. 

His nephew, Lewis, at that time king of Hungary ^ 
succeeded to the throne of Poland. On his demise, 
his youngest daughter, Hedwigis was crowned queen. 
She married Jag ell o Uladislaus, duke of Lithua- 
nia, who was elected king, A. D. 1384, and annexed 
his paternal dominions to the Polish monarchy. This 
prince was the founder of the third race of sovereigns, 
called the Jagellonic line, which, though the crown is 
elective, sat on the throne till A. D. 1572, under whose 
administration, Poland, which had been till then a scene 
of anarchy, began to be of some consideration in the 
north. 

On the death of Sigismund, the last of the Jagello fa- 
mily, without issue, two powerful competitors ap- 
peared ; Henry, duke of Anjou, brother to Charles 
IX. king of France ; and Maximilian, duke of Austria. 
Henry prevailed, A. D. 1574 ; but his brother dying 
the next year, he quitted Poland to ascend the throne of 
France. 

He was succeeded, at the request of the Turks, by 
Stephen Battori, prince of Transylvania. This 
monarch governed with great wisdom ; he instituted the 
two courts of judicature at Peterkaw and Lublin, and 
subdued the Cossacks. He was succeeded, A. D. 
1586, by Sigismund IH. the son of John, king of Swe- 
den, by Catharine, sister of Sigismund II. who being 
afterwards elected king of Sweden, and aspiring to the 
crown of Russia also, was engaged in long and bloody 
wars, but was at length obliged to rest satisfied with the 
throne of Poland. 

His son, Uladislaus, who succeeded him, A. D. 
1632, saw the beginning of the fatal defection of the 
Cossacks. These people inhabit the borders of the Bo- 
risthenes, or Nieper, one of the largest rivers in Europe, 
which has its source in a morass, in the Walshouskei 
forest, runs in a great many windings through Lithu- 
ania, and empties itself into the Black Sea, between 



116 History of all Nations, 

Oczakow and Kilburn. The lives of these rude and 
uncivilized people are, in every respect, like those of 
the ancient Scythians and Tartars. All this part of the 
world, to the north-east of Europe, was then in a savage 
state. It was the exact image of the heroic ages, when 
mankind were contented with the necessaries of life, 
and pillaged those necessaries from their neighbours. 
The Polish nobility treated these Cossacks, after they 
had been conquered by Battori, as their vassals and 
slaves. These oppressions at length caused the whole 
Cossack nation to revolt; and, joining the Russians and 
Turks, for a long time they continued to commit hor- 
rid depredations on the territories of Poland. 

Uladislaus died without issue. He had two brothers, 
both in holy orders ; the one a cardinal, the other bishop 
of Breslau and Kiow, who pretended to the vacant 
throne. 

John CasimiR, the cardinal, was elected in opposi- 
tion to his brother. This prince having been spectator 
for upwards of twenty years to the desolation of his 
kingdom, by factions at home, and by the incursions of 
the Swedes, Russians, and Cossacks, abdicated the go- 
vernment, and retired to Paris, where he died abbot of 
St. Germain des Pres A. D. 1687. 

Poland was equally miserable under his successor 
Michael Coribut, whose reign was one continual se- 
ries of misfortunes. The Turks conquered Podolio, 
and Volhinia, and became so formidable that Poland 
could not support itself, but by becoming tributary to 
the Ottoman Porte. The grand marechal (general) of 
the crown, John Sobieski, washed out this stain in the 
famous and bloody battle of Chockzim, in which the 
Turks were totally defeated, and Poland delivered from 
its tribute, 

This signal victory secured Sobieski's election to the 
crown on Michael's death. This martial prince entered 
into an alliance with the emperor of Germany, for the 
common defence of the Christian cause against the 
Turks. He defeated them with great slaughter, and 
obliged them to raise the siege of Vienna with the ut* 



Poland. 117 

most precipitation, leaving behind them their tents, 
artillery, and baggage. Sobieski died, after a glorious 
reign, A. D. 1696. 

Frederic-Augustus, elector of Saxony, was next 
chosen king, in opposition to his competitor, the prince 
of Conti. The state was at this time distracted by the 
most violent convulsions. Augustus having entered 
into an alliance with Peter I. of Russia, against Charles 
XII. king of Sweden, the Swedish monarch resolved 
to dethrone him. After having experienced the great- 
est reverses of fortune, Augustus was compelled to re- 
sign the crown in favor of Stanislaus Leezinski, prince 
of Posnania, supported by the king of Sweden, A. D. 
1705. Peter, czar of Russia, chastised the arrogance 
of Charles ; and after the famous battle of Pultowa, in 
which the king of Sweden lost in one day the fruits of 
nine years successful warfare, invited the elector of 
Saxony to re-ascend the throne. — Stanislaus was thus 
forced to relinquish his authority, and Augustus found 
himself once more in possession of the Polish throne. 

On his death,* Stanislaus (now become father-in-law 
to Lewis XV.) was a second time chosen king. But 
the emperor, assisted by the Russians, obliged the 
Poles to proceed to a new election. The elector of Sax- 
ony, son of the late king of Poland, who had manied 
the emperor's niece, was invested with the sovereignty, 
under the name of Augustus III. and Stanislaus, as 
formerly, was forced to abandon his crown. 

After the death of Augustus, which happened A, D. 
1763, a diet was summoned to deliberate on the elec- 
tion of a new king. The principal candidates for the 
crown were prince Czartorinski, count Poniatowski, 
General Braniki, and prince Xavierus of Saxony son of 
the former king. After several tumultuous meetings, 

* A. D. 1733. Augustus was endowed with extraordinary bodily 
strength, a sound understanding, a social disposition, and many princely 
accomplishments. It was this Augustus who in a fit of galantry twisted a 
horse-shoe in the presence of a fine woman, in order to give her some 
idea of his personal powers ; and at the same time presented to her a purse 
of gold, to make her sensible of his k generosity. Lore perhaps never 
epoke a more eloquent language 



1 18 History of all Nations, 

count Poniatowski was, by the influence of Russia, pro- 
claimed king, A. D. 1764, by the title of Stanislaus- 
Augustus. 

The reign of this monarch was one continued scene 
of confusion and distress ; and, in the year 1792, the 
same power that elevated him to the throne was the cause 
of his overthrow. It was to no purpose that he had for- 
merly been one of the paramours of the empress of 
Russia. Lust was a feebler passion than ambition, in 
the breast of Catherine. She had formed the design of 
subjugating Poland, and she was not to be turned from 
it, by either justice to the country, or tenderness for 
the favourite of her early years. The perfidy of the 
court of Berlin led it to become an associate of Russia ; 
and the emperor of Germany soon joined in this dis- 
graceful operation. The consequence was, that Poland 
is now no more ; that unfortunate country has been par- 
titioned amongst its rapacious neighbours. Stanis- 
laus died at Petersburg, on the 11th of February, 
1798. 

Religion. — The Poles were first converted from 
idolatry to the Christian religion about the year 964, by 
St. AJdebert, afterwards archbishop of Gnesna. The 
reformation began very early to make great progress in 
Poland, and the majority of the senators and nobility 
became members of either the Lutheran or Calvinisti- 
cal communion. To remove all the dangers arising 
from different religious persuasions, a law was passed in 
the Diet of Valna, in 1563, by which every subject 
professing the Christian religion was entitled equally to 
the rights, privileges and immunities, as well as the 
honors and dignities of the kingdom. This law was 
confirmed five years after, at the Diet of Grodno, A. D. 
1568. 

The moderation which subsisted for a long time 
among the different persuasions was uninterrupted, and 
served as the strongest cement to the state ; this close 
union was the more meritorious, as the most civilized 
and best regulated governments in Europe were at that 
period deeply embroiled in religious contentions. In 



Italy. 119 

1586s, Sigismund, began his reign. He was a weak and 
bigotted man, educated by the Jesuits, and through his 
influence the Roman Catholics gained the ascendancy : 
During the whole of his long and inglorious reign he 
persecuted his Protestant subjects with unrelenting se- 
verity. By the new constitution of Poland in 1768, 
the Catholic faith was declared to be the established 
religion of the country, with a toleration to all religious 
persuasions. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
ITALY. 

The ancient inhabitants of Italy were the triumphant 
conquerors and rulers of the world. The softer arts 
have now taken place, and seem the chief employment 
of the modern Italians. Painting was indeed introduced 
at Rome by CaiusFabius, and was brought to consi- 
derable perfection before the time of Augustus ; but a 
corrupt taste soon after prevailing, the politer arts were 
obliterated, and by degrees sunk into oblivion. Since 
the decay of the Roman empire, painting paid Italy a se- 
cond visit, and the masters that excelled in it for a long 
time preserved an unrivalled reputation. 

Italy has produced great men in all sciences, and for- 
merly gave birth to those generals, orators, poets, and 
historians, whose actions and writings will be revered 
as long as manly fortitude, polite learning, and elegant 
composition, are considered as the ornaments of human 
nature. Yet its state of literature cannot now be deemed 
considerable, though encouraged not only by several 
universities > but by a multiplicity of academies or lite- 
rary societies, which are to be found in almost every 
city. 

The Italian language was originally derived from the 
Latin, with which the many nations of Goths, Huns, 
Vandals, &c. that overran Italy, so mingled their dia- 



120 History of all Nations. 

lect as to give birth to a new language, at first very 
harsh, but gradually polished, and softened into its pre- 
sent agreeable smoothness. Its genius seems particu- 
larly adapted to poetry and music ; for which the Itali- 
ans are also famous ; and hence the Italian singers are 
more admired and more liberally paid than those of any 
other nation. 

The Popish is the only religion generally tolerated in 
Italy, and here the pope has his seat, in quality of head 
of the church of Rome. The Jews indeed are indulged 
with a kind of toleration ; but it is in most places under 
great restrictions; except that they enjoy an entire liber- 
ty respecting religion in the city of Leghorn. 

The pope is chosen from among the cardinals ; and 
before we describe the manner of his election, it will be 
proper to take some notice of those dignitaries. The 
word cardinal was a name common, in ancient times, 
to the presbyters and deacons of great churches ; but in 
the eleventh century the presbyters and deacons of the 
church of Rome restricted the appellation to themselves, 
and their power increased in proportion to that of the 
pope. The first dawn of their grandeur appeared under 
pope Nicholas IL who began his pontificate in the year 
1058. Innocent IV. at the council of Lyons, in 1243, gave 
them the red hat ; Boniface VIII. the red vestments, 
about 1294 ; and Urban VIII. in 1631, the title of Emi- 
nentissimi, but before they were only styled Illustrissi- 
mi. Sixtus V. at the council of Basil, fixed their num- 
ber at seventy, in allusion to the number of Christ's dis- 
ciples ; but this number is seldom complete. 

The conclave is the theatre on which the cardinals 
principally display their genius and address. The de- 
cease of the pope is made known to the people of Rome 
by tolling the great bell of the capitol, firing the 
cannon of the castle of St. Angelo, and opening the 
prisons; and, soon after, circular letters are sent to fo- 
reign cardinals by the cardinal cammerlingo to invite 
them to the approaching conclave. Mean while the 
cammerlingo acts as regent, is attended by the pope's 
life-guard, and orders every thing necessary for opening 



Italy. 121 

the conclave, which is held in the galleries and some of 
the anti- chambers of the Vatican, and consists of a num- 
ber of small rooms, separated by wooden partitions, 
and distributed by lot both among the cardinals then in 
Rome, and those that are absent. Each has usually 
two, one for himself, and one for two attendants called 
conclavists. 

On the eleventh day after the pope's demise, all the 
cardinals in the city meet in the morning, at St. Peter's 
church, where the mass Sancti Spiritus is celebrated ; 
and after a sermon on the duties to be observed in the 
election of a pope, they proceed two by two into the con- 
clave, which is then shut up by the governor and mar- 
shal of the conclave, none being let out, unless in case 
of illness, till a new pope is elected, and the person so 
let out is not allowed to return. The governor of the 
conclave is always previously chosen by the cardinals, 
and, together with the marshal, resides at the entrance 
of the Vatican, and without their express licence no 
person is suffered to go in or out. 

While the cardinals sit in conclave, refreshments are 
brought them in baskets, or boxes, which are searched, 
though not with much stricfriess. Each cardinal or- 
ders his conclavist to write down on a slip of paper the 
name of the person to whom he gives his suffrage. — 
This is thrown into a chalice, on the altar of the chapel 
of the conclave, and two cardinals, appointed for that 
purpose, successively read aloud the notes, making the 
number of votes for every cardinal. He who has two- 
thirds is declared pope ; otherwise the scrutiny is repeat- 
ed till this number is complete. If this mode of elec- 
tion does not prove effectual, recourse is had to another, 
called AccessuSy whereby the notes of the former scruti- 
ny being set aside, every cardinal must give in writing 
his vote to another ; and if by this way two-thirds do 
not appear, there is still another resource called Inspira- 
tio, in virtue of which those of the cardinals w T ho are 
unanimous come out of their cells and call aloud to each 
other, " Such a one shall be pope, such a on© shall be 
pope;" upon which, others, to avoid incurring the 



122 History of all A ations. 

displeasure of the newly elected pope, frequently join ia 
the cry, and thus the election is sometimes carried ; but 
if this also fails, the scrutiny begins again, and a con- 
clave in this manner sometimes proves a tedious and 
perplexed business. 

The emperor, with the kings of France and Spain, 
are allowed to put a negative upon the person thus cho- 
sen to the popedom ; but this protest must be made 
before the complete declaration of the votes for such a 
person. It is required that the pope be an Italian, and at 
least fifty years of age, though the age most commonly 
insisted upon is between sixty and seventy. When the 
election is over, and the pope elect has declared what 
name he will bear in future, the chief of the cardinal- 
deacons proclaim him to the people. His coronation 
with a triple crown is generally performed eight days 
after. 

The revenues of the pope are very large, the coun- 
tries of which he is sovereign as a temporal prince being 
considerable. No person in Rome must sell any wine 
or fruit till the pope and his nephews, as they are called, 
with their dependants, have disposed of what is consign- 
ed to them from their domains and estates. The an- 
nates, or first fruits and masses of the great consistorial 
benefices, the pallia, and investitures of archbishops and 
bishops, the jubilee year indulgences, dispensations, 
canonizations, promotions of cardinals, subsidies of the 
clergy, convent collections, &c. continually bring vast 
sums into the papal treasury from all Roman catholic 
countries. The annual income of the pope is generally 
computed at eight millions seven hundred thousand 
scudi ; (or, 1,848,750/. sterling.) 

In 1791, Pope Pius excommunicated those bishops, 
who admitted the ecclesiastical constitution established 
by the national assembly of France. This measure was 
treated with contempt by the French ; it exposed the 
vanity of the pretensions of the pontiffs, and shewed 
how low their power was fallen. The effigy of Pius, 
clad in his pontifical robes, and holding in his hand the 



Italy. 12,3 

brief of excommunication, was publicly burnt in Paris. 
Avignon was shortly after incorporated with France. 

The court of Rome now joined the confederation 
against the Republic of France, in 1796. Bonaparte led 
his victorious troops over the Alps. He was every 
where successful, and the battle of Lodi decided the 
fate of Lombardy. Verona, Mantua, &c. quickly 
yielded to his arms. He menaced even imperial Rome ! 
Terrified at this invasion of his territories, the pope sued 
for an armistice, which was granted to him on these, 
among other conditions — -that his holiness should sur- 
render to the conquerors a great many pictures and sta- 
tues, and some hundreds of the most curious manu- 
scripts, from the Vatican library. 

But Bonaparte had no sooner retired, than the few 
French who remained at Rome, were insulted by the 
populace, at the instigation of the monks, and their lives 
greatly endangered. The court of Rome, also, began 
to use more haughty language ; and by sending troops 
into the field, to infringe the treaty they had lately con- 
cluded. 

In the following year (1797) a division of the French 
army, commanded by general Victor, entered the papal 
territories. The pope's troops, consisting of four thou- 
sand foot, and one thousand horse, posted on an advan- 
tageous ground, waited his arrival. The Senia was in 
front of their strong entrenchments ; but as the season 
was dry, the French forded the river, and came upon 
their rear. They broke the line of the papal army at 
the point of the bayonet. After a defence by no means 
contemptible, the papal troops were routed ; five hun- 
dred were slain and wounded, above a thousand made 
prisoners, and fourteen pieces of cannon taken. The 
loss of the French did not exceed one hundred men. 
This battle decided the fate of the ecclesiastical states. 
The banners of imperious France now waved triumphant 
over the patrimony of the church. 

The pope was compelled to cede to the French re- 
public Avigon and Venaissm, Bologna, Ferrara, and 
Romagna, He engaged likewise to pay thirty thousand 



124* * History of all JSations, 

French livres to the republic, and to fulfil the condi- 
tions of the treaty of armistice formerly agreed to. In 
order to prevent the future power of the Roman pontiff, 
the newly ceded territories, together with those of Reg- 
gio and Modena, which have already confederated them- 
selves, were now formed into one republic, while the 
Milanese, and other districts of Lorn bardy, were formed 
into another. Thus the power and importance once an- 
nexed to the see of Rome, were annihilated. Thus 
the influence of France in Italy was established on the 
surest foundation — the necessity of a faithful adherence 
to it by those states that depended on it for their preser- 
vation. 

Joseph Bonaparte now arrived, as ambassador from 
the directory to the court of Rome ; and with resolution 
and firmness, demanded that the pope should expel the 
French emigrants from his dominions, diminish his mi- 
litary force, and set at liberty all persons arrested for 
their opinions on political subjects. 

The democratic party in Rome were now embold- 
ened : they aimed not at the reformation, but at the to- 
tal suppression of the papal government. In their en- 
deavours, they requested assistance from the French 
ambassador, who, however, gave them no encourage- 
ment, and exorted them to desist from an attempt, 
which he represented to them as rash and impractica- 
ble, forbidding them, at the same time, to apply to him 
for countenance in any such undertaking. Notwith- 
standing this, trusting to the protection of France, in 
case of success, the revolutionary party assembled, on 
the 27th of December, 1797 ; but being hardly one 
hundred in number, they were entirely dispersed bv 
the military, of whom however they wounded some, 
and killed two or three. In this affray the insurgents 
wore the French cockade, and a suspicion arose that 
they had acted at the instigation of the French ; but the 
ambassador of the republic disclaimed all the individuals 
who, on that occasion, had assumed it. 

In the afternoon of the same day the insurrection 
was '"renewed, and became more serious. About twenty 



Italy. 125 

of the insurgents repaired to the palace of the French 
ambassador, and, proclaiming the Romans a free people, 
begged the protection of France. The ambassador or- 
dered them to depart, and advised them to proceed no 
further in a frantic resistance to a government that was 
able instantly to crush them. Meanwhile the insurrec- 
tion was increasing, and the invirons of his palace were 
filling with crowds, that shouted, " Live the republic, 
live the Roman people!" The ambassador now pre- 
pared to exert his authority to disperse the multitude ; 
but before he could address them, they were fired upon, 
through the gates of the palace, by the military, 
who pursued the flying crowd into the court. The 
French ambassador, demanding by what authority they 
entered his precinct, bid them instantly retire. His or- 
ders were disregarded ; they again fired upon the in- 
surgents, and killed and wounded many of them. As 
they seemed preparing another volley, General Dupho f , 
who accompanied the ambassador, marched up to them ; 
but while expostulating with them, while seizing the 
musket of one, and preventing another from firing, he 
was shot through the body by a soldier, and when dead 
was treated with the utmost indignity. To avoid the 
fury of the soldiers, the ambassador and his attendants 
made the best of their 4 way through a private path, 
that led to the gardens of his palace ; there, on his re- 
turn, he found many of the insurgents dead or wounded, 
and ordered the gates to be shut. 

The French ambassador, however, retired to Flo- 
rence, and the republican party at Rome began to con- 
sider itself in the certain road to success. They were 
not disappointed. Under pretence of avenging the af- 
front offered to the French nation, in the person of its 
ambassador, General Berthier, with a large division of 
the French and Cisalpine army, marched to the city of 
Rome, and on the 11th of February, 1798, took posses- 
sion of the castle of Angelo. A proclamation was now 
issued by Berthier, in which he declared the intent of 
his mission was to bring to justice the authors of the 
assasination of General Duphot, and of Basseville, se- 



126 History of all Nations, 

cretary of legation to the French embassy at Rome, in 
1795, and to take the citizens of Rome under his pro- 
tection. The insurgents soon after proclaimed the 
Roman republic, and planted the tree of liberty in the 
most public places of the city. In compliance with 
their desire, Berthier likewise entered the city in much 
state and splendour, and proceeded to the capitol, amidst 
an immense multitude. There, after invoking the 
manes of Brutus, Cato, Cicero, and other illustrious 
names of antiquity, he declared that the French re- 
public, professing the principles of national sovereignty, 
acknowledged the independence of the Roman republic. 
The organization of the new commonwealth was im- 
mediately proceeded upon. Communes, principalities, 
and national guards, were, under the auspices of Ber- 
thier, instituted in every part of the Roman state, and 
liberty of conscience was allowed. On the entrance of 
the French into Rome, the Pope was confined in the Va- 
tican, where he was guarded by five hundred men : 
seals were also placed on the apartments of all the ponti- 
fical palaces, and upon those of all the cardinals that were 
absent. A contribution of four millions livres in specie, 
two millions in provisions, and three in horses, were 
demanded. In order to secure the payment of this re- 
quisition, four cardinals, four bishops, and four princes, 
were detained as hostages. 

In the year 1799 the aged father of the catholic church 
was torn from his retirement by the French, who now 
yielded to the triumphant arms of SuvorrofF, and carr 
ried by them to Valence, whither as he passed through 
Dauphiny, he was every where received, by multitudes 
of people, with sentiments of sympathy, respect, and 
veneration. They fell on their knees, and demanded his 
blessing ; which he bestowed in a kind, affecting, and 
graceful manner. After an indisposition of several days,, 
he expired at Valence, on the 19th of August, in the 
82d year of his age. 

Not long after, General Gamier, French commander 
in Rome, surrendered the Roman territory, by capitula- 
tion, to the English commodore, Trowbridge ; and in 



Holland. 127 

the year 1800, notwithstanding the rapid conquests of 
Bonaparte, the papal government was restored. The 
conclave for the election of a successor to Pope Pius 
VI. was held under the auspices of the emperor, at 
Venice. The ecclesiastic honoured with the pontificate, 
was Cardinal di Chiaranionte, a man of good sense, and 
mild and unassuming manners. As it was customary 
for the new pontiff to assume the name of the pope who 
had promoted him to the dignity of cardinal, Chiar- 
anionte took that of Pius VII. The emperor, on his 
election, presented him with a sum of money ; but did 
not at first restore any part of the papal dominions. 
However, after the battle of Marengo, when he became 
apprehensive of the loss of his power and influence in 
Italy, he resolved to have the credit of delivering up to 
the Pope the greater part of the ecclesiastical state, ra- 
ther than that it should fall into either the possession or 
disposal of other hands. Pius VII. took possession of 
the see of Rome in July, and began to exercise the func* 
tions of sovereignty with great dignity and moderation. 
He was soon after acknowledged by the French repub- 
lic, and had the satisfaction to conclude with Bonaparte, 
the convention or concordat, (1802) which, under cer- 
tain limitations, established the Roman catholic religion 
in France. 

The pope, it is said, has been solicited to resign. The 
papal chair is to be occupied by Bonaparte^s Uncle 
cardinal Fesch, who is to reside at Avignon and the 
states of the church, which together with the kingdom of 
Etruria (Tuscany) are to be united to the kingdom of 
Italy. 

CHAPTER XVH. 
HOLLAND. 

The Netherlands, with that part of Germany which 
lies west of the Rhine, was possessed by the Romans, 
who called it Gallia Belgica : but upon the decline of the 
Roman empire, the Goths, and other northern people, 



128 History of all Nations. 

took possession of these provinces, as they passed 
through them in their way to France and Spain, and 
here erected several small governments which were a 
kind of limited monarchies, whose sovereigns were 
stiled dukes, counts or lords. These provinces were 
seventeen in number: viz. four dukedoms; Brabant, 
Limburg, Luxemburg and Guelders i seven earldoms ; 
Flanders, Artois, Hainault, Holland, Zealand, Namur 
and Zutphen : five lordships ; Friesland, Malines, U- 
trecht, Overyssal and Groningen; beside Antwerp, 
which has the title of marquisate of the Roman empire. 
The people enjoyed great privileges under these princes, 
who were contented with preserving them, because the 
smallness of their dominions made their greatest strength 
consist in the affection of their subjects ; but afterwards, 
when all these provinces became subject to the house of 
Burgundy, which held large dominions elsewhere, the 
people were treated with less indulgence. From Bur- 
gundy they passed to the house of Austria : Charles V. 
was the first prince of this house, and, as he was king 
of Spain, emperor of Germany, and duke of Burgun- 
dy, he had different interests from those of his prede- 
cessors ; and being engaged in a war with France, he 
brought foreign forces from his other dominions into 
the Netherlands, notwithstanding the express laws to 
the contrary. 

At length the Reformation gaining ground here, that 
prince published very rigorous edicts against those who 
separated from the Romish church ; and Grotius 
affirms, that during his reign above a hundred thousand 
persons suffered death for their religion ; but the num- 
ber and courage of those who embraced the doctrines 
of the Reformation, instead of being diminished by the 
horrors of persecution, daily increased, and sometimes 
the people rescued out of the hands of the officers those 
who were leading to execution. Thus the Netherlands 
became extremely alienated from the house of Austria, 
and their discontents increased on Charles' abdicating 
his throne in favor of his son Philip II. This prince, 
who treated his Flemish subjects with much more auster- 



Holland. 129 

iy than his father had done, would admit only of the 
Polish religion ; and a sanguinary persecution against 
the heretics, as they were called, was carried on With 
fresh rigour ; a court, resembling that of the inquisition, 
was erected, and these cruelties were aggravated by 
insupportable taxes ; but at the time when Philip left 
the Netherlands, he appointed the prince of Orange 
governor over four of those provinces. 

The house of Nassau, of which the prince of Orange 
was, derives its chief title from the eleven counties 
of the principality of Nassau, in the imperial circle of 
the Upper Rhine. 

These oppressions being exercised with the most 
tyrannical fury by Ferdinand of Toledo, duke of Alva, 
whom Philip had created governor, the Netherlands 
made a strong effort for their freedom, and William 
prince of Orange, in conjunction with his brother 
count Louis of Nassau, undertook the defence of the 
inhabitants, in their noble struggles for religion and 
civil liberty. Accordingly the states of Holland, in 
their own names, conferred the stadtholdership, a title 
equivalent to lieutenant, on the former, and several 
other towns and provinces declared for him. He first 
united them, in 1576, in one general association, under 
the title of " The Pacification of Ghent." But this un- 
ion being soon dissolved, the prince laboured to the ut- 
most of his power to form a more durable alliance, 
which he happily accomplished in 1579. In that year 
the celebrated league of Utrecht was concluded, which 
gave name to the United Provinces, and became the 
basis and plan of their constitution. The prince of 
Orange was afterwards on the point of being nominated 
the sovereign of these countries, but was treacherously 
shot in 1584, by an assassin named Belthazar Gerhard, 
who had assumed the name of Francis Guyon. This 
man was supposed to have been hired to perpetrate the 
murder by the Spanish ministry, but no tortures could 
force a confession from him. The United Netherlands, 
however, continued to maintain, sword in hand, that 
liberty to which they had raised themselves: queen 

R 



130 History of all Nations. 

Elizabeth of England took them under her protection, 
and rendered them essentia), assistance. When the earl 
of Leicester, the favourite of that queen, was sent over 
by her to the Netherlands, in the year 1685, the states 
appointed him governor and captain -general of the Uni- 
ted Provinces, or in other words their stadtholder ; but 
his haughty carriage, and unskilful manner of conduct- 
ing the war, soon rendered him unpopular, and the 
next year he returned to England. The Dutch, being 
afterwards better supported by the English, baffled all 
the attempts of the Spaniards, and their commerce ar- 
rived at such a pitch, that in 1602 their celebrated East 
India company was established ; and Spain being both 
weakened and discouraged by the ill success of a tedious 
war, in 1609 agreed to an armistice for twelve years, 
and in the very first article of the treaty acknowledged 
the United Netherlands to be a free and independent 
state. During this truce the republic attained to a de- 
gree of power which it has never since exceeded. — 
These signal successes were principally obtained by the 
able conduct of prince Maurice of Nassau, the second 
son of the first stadtholder, and to the same dignity this 
prince was chosen when only twenty -one years of age. 
He conducted the affairs of the states, during twenty 
years, with great ability and success. The latter part of 
this prince's government was sullied by cruelty and in- 
gratitude ; for he procured the condemnation and death 
of the pensionary Barnevelt, to whose influence he owed 
his elevation. This man was sacrificed to his opinions, 
for he was an Armenian in religion and a republican in 
politics, but his death caused the political principles for 
which he suffered to spread more widely. Those who 
opposed the stadtholder were afterwards t ailed "the Lou- 
vestein party," from De Witt, burgomaster of Dort, 
and five other members of the states general, being im- 
prisoned in that castle for maintaining such sentiments. 
In 1621 the war was again renewed, during which the 
stadtholder, prince Frederic Henry, youngest son of the 
first William, who succeeded on the death of his half 
brother prince Maurice, in 1625, greatly distinguished 



Holland. 131 

himself. This war was brought to a period in 1648, by 
the peace of Minister, by which treaty Philip IV. king 
of Spain, renounced all claim to the United Nether- 
lands. 

In 1652 a war broke out between the United Pro- 
vinces and England, which latter country was then 
brought under a republican form of government. This 
war was terminated two years after, by a treaty, in which 
the states of Holland engaged for ever to exclude the 
house of Orange from the stadtholdership of their pro- 
vince. 

In 1665 another war was kindled with England, at 
which time that country had regained its regal constitu- 
tion : this war continued until the treaty of Breda.— - 
The states of Holland and West Friesland then pas ed 
an edict, by which they abolished the stadtholdership in 
their province. This was effected by the influence of 
the grand pensionary De Witt. When France formed 
a design to seize on the Spanish Netherlands, the United 
Provinces entered into an alliance with the crowns of 
England and Sweden for the defence of those countries : 
by which France was, in 1668, compelled to agree to 
the peace of Aix la Chapelle ; but soon took a severe 
revenge by breaking that alliance, and inducing England, 
with some other powers, to enter into a league against 
the United Provinces, on which a war ensued. In this 
critical juncture the republic, in 1672, nominated Wil- 
liam, the young prince of Orange, captain and admiral 
general : and the populace compelled the states of Hol- 
land to invest him with the stadtholdership, which two 
years after was declared hereditary in his family. 

He was the fifth stadtholderand the third of that name : 
he married the princess Mary, eldest daughter of James 
II. of England, and became king of England. 

In 1678 a peace was concluded with France, atNime- 
guen ; but it was of no long continuance, for in 1688, 
the states supporting their stadtholder in his expedition 
to England, with a fleet and a large body of troops, 
France declared war against them, which continued till 
the peace of Ryswic in 1097. At length, on the death. 



132 History of all J\ations. 

of Charles II. king of Spain, in the year 1700 the 
Spanish provinces fell to the share of the house of Aus- 
tria, and the republic became involved in a war respect- 
ing that succession, which continued till the peace of 
Utrecht, in 1713. 

William died king of England and stadtholder of the 
United Provinces in 1 702. He appointed John William 
Fiizo, prince of Nassau Dietz, his sole heir, who was 
born 1687, and was drowned in crossing an arm of the 
sea at Mardyke, 14th July, 1711. Three months after 
his death his widow was delivered of a son, who was 
christened William, and afterwards became stadtholder* 
but on the death of William III. that office was laid 
aside, until, in 1722, the province of Guelders elected 
him their stadtholder, notwithstanding the remonstran- 
ces of the other provinces. 

In the general war which broke out in Europe in 
1756, the Dutch, by taking no part in the quarrel, were 
perhaps the greatest gainers, supplying the belligerent 
powers with naval and military stores ; and when the 
dispute between Great-Britain and the American colo- 
nies rekindled the flames of war, the most essential as- 
sistance was procured both to America and France, by 
means of the Dutch settlement at St. Eustatius, and of 
the freights brought by their ships. At length it was 
discovered, by the capture of an American packet, that 
a treaty between the American states and the province 
of Holland was actually adjusted, and that Mr. Laurens, 
late president of the congress, was appointed to reside 
at Amsterdam in a public capacity. This occasioned the 
court of London first to cancel all treaties of commerce 
and alliance which then subsisted between that kingdom 
and the United States, and soon after, in December 
1780, to issue a declaration of hostilities against the re- 
public. The resentment of Great-Britain proved ex- 
tremely fatal to the possessions and wealth of the Dutch ; 
the island of Sl Eustatius, with a large fleet of valuable 
merchant ships, fell an easy prey to a naval and military 
force under the command of Admiral Rodney and Ge- 
neral Vausrhan ; several homeward bound East- India 



Holland. 13'3 

ships, richly laden, were either taken by the English or 
destroyed. JKegapatnam, on the Coromandel coast, and 
their chief settlement on the island of Ceylon, were 
wrested from them. 

Con stitution . — The Seven United Provinces form 
seven republics, or independent sovereign states, united 
together for their common defence in a close alliance ; 
but on conditioa that all shall enjoy their own respective 
laws, liberties, and privileges. As they are confede- 
rated and allied together, it is requisite that they should 
meet, in order to consult on the most proper method of 
promoting their common interest ; but it being impos- 
sible for all the members of the several states to meet 
together, each particular state appoints some person to 
represent it ; and the assembly of these representatives 
is called " The Assembly of the States General. " 

The States General, however, not only make peace or 
war in their own name, but send and receive ambassa- 
dors and other public ministers. The commander in 
chief, and all other military officers, take an oath of fide- 
lity to them ; and, during a war, some of their members, 
or of the council of state, follow the army, sit in the 
council of war, and their consent is requisite previous 
to any thing of importance being undertaken. In time- 
of war the States likewise grant licences and protec- 
tions. 

Thus the States General appear at first view to be the 
sovereigns of the country : but most of these deputies 
are appointed only for a few years, and though they 
have the power of debating on the most important af- 
fairs that may tend to secure or promote the preserva- 
tion or happiness of the state, yet they have not power 
to conclude any point of great consequence, without 
previously communicating it to their respective provin- 
ces, and receiving their express consent. This renders 
the resolutions of the republic so tedious and dilatory, as 
to tire the patience of those powers who have affairs to 
negociate with the states ; but though this slow method 
of proceeding is attended with many inconveniences, it 
has some advantages : it affords leisure for caution and 



134 History of all Nations. 

mature deliberation, and is sometimes an unexception- 
able pretence for protracting business, and waiting to see 
what events may turn up. 

In the assembly of the States General each pro- 
vince presides weekly in its turn, beginning with 
Guelderland, who had the precedency before the union ; 
then Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, Friesland, Overyssel, 
and Groningen. He who is first named in the deputa- 
tion of his province, presides, and is from that called the 
" President of the week." They sit throughout the 
whole year without adjournment, and their meetings are 
always held at the Hague. 

The highest office in this country is that of Stadt- 
holder, for he is at the same time governor- general of 
the Seven UnitecFProvinces, captain-general, and grand- 
admiral ; but his power is extremely limited. He 
swears to obey the States General, and can neither make 
peace nor war without their consent. He may come to 
their assembly, to lay before them any business in which 
the public is concerned ; but has not ordinarily a seat in 
it. He may pardon criminals condemned to suffer 
death, and has the right of choosing the magistrates of 
cities upon a double nomination of their respective se- 
nates, excepting only Amsterdam, with several other 
important privileges. 

The title assumed by the States, is that of " High 
and Mighty Lords," or, " The Lords of the States Ge- 
neral of the United Netherlands;" and in public ad- 
dresses they are stiled " their High Mightinesses." 

The council of state consists of twelve deputies of the 
several provinces, and their office is either triennial or 
during the pleasure of their principals. In this coun- 
cil the deputies of Holland have the greatest weight, 
that province being possessed of three votes, while none 
of the others have more than two, and some of them only 
one. The presidentship indeed is held alternately by 
the twelve members, each in their week. The title of 
this council is " Noble and Mighty Lords." 
£ The foregoing History has reference to the state of this 
country previous to the French Bovohition.~\ 



Holland. 135 

In the year 1791, the emperor of Germany seized 
the Dutch forts in the neighbourhood of Sluys, and de- 
manded the opening of the Scheldt, and ordered a ship 
of his to sail down that river, and upon its seizure by 
the Dutch, lost no time in putting his army in motion, 
with all the appearance of commencing an immediate 
war. This demand of the emperor was finally settled by 
the Dutch paying ten millions of florins. 

An intimate alliance was formed in 1784, be- 
tween the courts of Versailles and the Hague, which 
stipulated that either party should supply the other with 
an auxiliary force upon being attacked. In 1785, the 
internal commotions on the United Provinces greatly 
attracted the attention of Europe. Two parties, for the 
last two centuries, had been continually struggling for 
superiority. The first of these was the family of Or- 
ange; the second, that of the states and of the town 
councils. 

From the death of the patriotic De Witts, Barnevelts, 
and of William the second, the republic had declined, 
and instead of venerable patriots and distinguished con- 
querors, Europe had been accustomed to regard them 
as a nation of merchants, pursuing wealth, in contempt 
of every other quality and accomplishment. It is well 
known that the oligarchy, for a number of years previ- 
ous to 1785, entertained the design of excluding the 
stadtholder, and of stripping him of his disproportionate 
authority. 

The first efforts of liberty appeared in the city of 
Utrecht. The citizens formed the plan of entirely ex- 
cluding the stadtholder from any influence in the nomi- 
nation of the four governments ; and at the same time 
to communicate to the people a certain degree of authori- 
ty, and to share in the election of the senates and magis- 
trates, as well as several other prerogatives of no consi- 
derable^ importance. The first measure adopted was to 
present a petition to the states of the province of Utrecht, 
demanding the abolition of the regulation of regency 
established in 1674, which was the foundation of the 
principal part of the obnoxious authority of the stadt- 



136 History of all Nations* 

holder in the election of the town governments, and by 
which he was accustomed arbitrarily to obtrude what* 
ever person he pleased to a seat in the senate. Six de- 
puties were appointed by the assembly of the magis- 
trates of Amsterdam to mediate the differences which 
had arisen at Utrecht ; and the projected reform was at 
length published, which was certainly intended as a con- 
ciliatory measure : but it was by no means attended 
with the success expected. The spirit of reform which 
began at Utrecht soon communicated its influence to 
other towns and provinces, and the violence of the peo- 
ple, at length, induced four of the council committee to 
send a requisition to the stadtholder, demanding a body 
of troops to restrain the citizens. The compliance of 
the prince of Orange with the demand of troops pro- 
duced the most unbounded spirit of indignation and 
resistance in various parts of the republic. 

The senate urged by the representatives of the peo- 
ple shut their gates, brought out the cannon of their for- 
tifications, and prepared for resistance. The people 
were every where incensed at the conduct of the stadt- 
holder, in endeavouring to silence their complaints, by 
the introduction of an armed force. The stadt- 
holder now called upon the states to support him, but 
finding that he could obtain no answer to his remon- 
strances, he withdrew from the Hague on the 14th Sept. 
1785, with a resolution never to return to the palace of 
his ancestors, till he should be reinstated in his prerog- 
atives. 

The troops had now yielded implicit obedience to the 
provincial assembly, and formed a border along the 
province of Utrecht; and soon afterwards the states 
passed a resolution, depriving the prince of Orange of 
the situation of captain- general. 

The misunderstanding between the Stadtholder and the 
republic had now (1787) gone so far, that it did not ap- 
pear possible to terminate it in any other way than by the 
sword. The king of Prussia and the court of France 
both tried to mediate. The refusal of any concession, 
however, by the Prince of Orange, brought the con- 



Holland. 137 

ferences to a rapid conclusion. All the provinces were 
now nearly unanimous, in refusing to yield to the stadt- 
holder's pretensions, but Utrecht was still distracted. 
Hostilities, however, soon commenced, when a rencoun- 
ter happened between a party of the prince's forces and 
the volunteers of Utrecht, on the former attempting to 
secure the post of Vreeswyck^ in which they were de- 
feated; In the mean time a terrible riot broke out in 
Amsterdam, in favour of the stadtholder, which was 
with much difficulty suppressed by the association of 
the burghersj but not until much damage had been done 
to the persons and properties of the inhabitants. A ge- 
neral revolt broke out among the troops of the provinces ; 
and for the purpose of co-operating with the revolters* 
the prince of Orange took the field with his little army, 
and encamped in the vicinity of Utrecht. While things 
were in this state, the princess of Orange, sister to the 
king of Prussia, a woman of a masculine, active, and ad- 
venturous character, undertook a journey to the Hague, 
from what motive never distinctly appeared, except, in- 
deed the courts of Prussia and London wished for some 
more immediate cause to go to war than what had yet 
occurred. The princess was stopped in her journey by 
the deputies of the patriots, and compelled to return ; 
upon which she wrote to the states of Holland, charging 
them with distrusting her intentions, and demanding an 
ample and public reparation for the insults oifered 
her. 

The military interference of Prussia had already been 
determined upon, and her armies had been put in mo- 
tion. The states of Holland came to the resolution of 
suspending the prince from the functions of stadtholder. 
The duke of Brunswick, who commanded the Prussian 
forces, after several ineffectual remonstrances, at lengtli 
began, his march, which resembled more a triumph than 
a campaign. All the principal towns submitted upon 
his appearance ; the volunteers were disbanded, and the 
deputies came to the resolution of restoring the stadt- 
holder to all his honours and prerogatives, and of invit- 
ing him to repair to his former place of residence. Am- 

s 



138 History of all Nations* 

sterdam for some time made an ineffectual resistance, 
but was at length obliged to surrender, together with 
every other place in the hands of the patriots. 

Thus, after a short campaign, the prince of Orange 
made his triumphant entry at the Hague, and in the 
space of twenty days 20,000 Prussians overcame that 
republic which had so gallantly and successfully con- 
tended with Philip the Second for its liberties, and Louis 
the Fourteenth fGr its independence. 

The revolution which occurred in France reinspired 
the hopes of the patriots, and obtained for them promises 
of support and assistance. Upon the execution of the 
king of France, the French ambassador was ordered to 
depart from the Hague ; war was declared against 
Great- Britain and Holland jointly, but the complaints 
against the latter were solely confined to the prince of 
Orange, for ordering a Dutch squadron to join the Eng- 
lish, &c. &c. 

In 1793, the French sent an army under Dumourier, 
to expel the stadtholder. By the aid of the British 
troops, under the duke of York, the French were com- 
pelled to retire within their own territories. 

In the year 1794, the French having been very suc- 
cessful against the Austrians, once more commenced 
their march towards Holland, under the command of 
two of their ablest generals, Pichegru and Moreau* 
Sluys was speedily taken, and the English repulsed at 
Boxtel. On the 19th of October the duke of York was 
attacked and defeated at Puffleck, after which he imme- 
diately retired behind the Waal with his army , while the 
invading army prepared to besiege the neighbouring' 
garrisons, notwithstanding the advanced season of the 
year. Maestricht soon afterwards surrendered, as did 
Nimeguen on the 8th of November, after a short siege, 
though covered by the army of the duke of York. The 
discontented patriots now began to raise their heads ; and 
the stadtholder, finding it impossible to resist the im- 
pending storm, desired leave to withdraw. He shortly 
after sailed for England, where he met with a hospitable 
reception. 



Holland. 139 

In 1795, a French officer, with dispatches from general 
Pichegru, entered Amsterdam, and repaired to the 
house of the burgomaster. The tree of liberty was 
planted next morning, while De Winter took possession 
of the fleet which he was afterwards destined to command. 
A complete revolution was thus effected through the Se- 
ven United Provinces. Pichegru now entered Amster- 
dam in triumph, and was received with transports of joy. 
The principal cities were next occupied by French 
troops. The States General, yielding to imperious ne- 
cessity, now negociated with the invaders, and issued 
orders to all the governors to deliver up all the fortifica- 
tions on the first summons of the French, who, instead 
of disarming the garrisons, only required them to take an 
oath not to carry arms against the republic. 

After the lapse of a short period, a treaty ' of alliance, 
offensive and defensive, was concluded between the re- 
public of France and that of the Seven United Provinces. 
The conquest of Holland by the French, and the treaty 
of alliance which speedily followed this event, produced 
an entire change in the connection between that,country 
and England. War was consequently declared by the 
latter, and a great number of Dutch vessels were de- 
tained, and all the property of that nation seized in Eng- 
land. All the Dutch colonies in Asia were also either 
obtained by stratagem, or seized after a short and inef- 
fectual resistance. The capture of the Cape of Good 
Hope, in 1796, produced a considerable sensation in Hol- 
land. 

Holland, or the late Batavian republic, has lately un- 
dergone another revolution, and is now recognized un- 
der the name of " the kingdom of Holland ;" of which 
Louis Bonaparte, brother to the emperor of the French., 
is sovereign. 



145 History of all Nations\ 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
SWISSERLAND. 

The ancient Helvetians were a Gaulish or Celtic peo 
pie ; and Helvetia, which received its name from them, 
was divided into four cantons or territories. Julius 
Caesar first reduced the inhabitants under the dominion 
of die Romans, who founded colonies here ; and their 
dominion continued till the fifth century, when the coun- 
try was over-run by the Burgundians and Germans, and 
at length became united to the German empire ; but 
about the year 1300 the emperor Albert I. not only refus- 
ed to confirm their ancient privileges, without deigning 
to assign any cause for his refusal, but set over the 
Swiss two noblemen who were alike stigmatized for 
their avarice and arrogance ; their administration be- 
coming insupportable, the people addressed their peti- 
tions and complaints to the emperor, but without suc- 
cess. 

Thus countenanced, the tyrants gave a loose to their 
disposition. One of them, Grisler, who was governor 
of Underwald, set his hat upon a pole at Altorff, and 
in the wantonness of power demanded that the same 
respect should be paid to it as to himself. The histories of 
Swisserland relate, that a man named William Tell 
refused to submit to this indignity. Grisler gave orders 
that he should be brought before him ; when, telling 
him that he had heard he was an excellent marksman, 
he commanded him to shoot an arrow at an apple which 
he caused to be placed upon the head of Tell's son, 
declaring at the same time that if he failed to hit it he 
should be hanged. Tell, though with a trembling 
hand, struck off the apple without touching his son, and 
Jiereby saved his life ; but Grisler perceiving that the 
marksman, though he was ordered to have but one 
arrow, still retained one in his belt, demanded the rea- 
son ; on which the intrepid archer declared, that had he 
feeen so unfortunate as to have killed his son, the other 



Swisserland. 141 

arrow he meant to have directed at the tyrant's heart. — 
Grisler, who had promised to give him his life on his 
acknowledging the truth, now ordered him to be bound, 
and carried prisoner for life to a place on the lake of 
Lucern ; but Tell happily escaped out of the boat in 
crossing the lake, retired into the mountains, where he 
waited for an opportunity of destroying the tyrant, and 
at length shot him as he was passing along the road. 

The people now universally expressed their abhor- 
rence of the tyrants, and the inhabitants of Uri, Schwitz 
and Underwald, who had from time immemorial posses- 
sed the right of being governed by their own magis- 
trates, with other important privileges, united in order 
to defend themselves to the last extremity. For this 
purpose they chose three commanders, gentlemen of 
approved courage and abilities ; these were Wernber 
Stauffach, Walter Furst, and Arnold Melchthal, who 
secretly agreed to surprise and demolish the castles m 
which the imperial governors resided. 

These with the gen'rous rustics sate 

On Uri's rock in close divan, 
And winged that arrow sure as fate 

Which ascertained the sacred rights of man. 

This resolution being effected, these three places 
joined again in a league for ten years, which gave birth, 
to the Helvetic confederacy. The emperor Albert 
thinking this a proper time for totally reducing these pla- 
ces by force of arms, hastened to Baden to begin the pre- 
paration ; but being on his return murdered by John of 
Hapsburg, the design was dropped till the house of 
Austria invented another pretence for falling on the Uni- 
ted Cantons. These and other parts of Swisserland ad- 
hering to the emperor Lewis of Bavaria, Frederick of Aus- 
tria, his competitor, was so incensed, that he put the 
inhabitants of Schwitz under the ban of the empire, be- 
cause during their contest with the abbey of Einsidlen 
they had made some of the monks prisoners : they were 
accordingly excommunicated by the bishop of Con- 
stance. Soon after, Leopold duke of Austria, in 1315, 



142 History of all Nations . 

attacked the Confederates with an army of twenty thou- 
sand men ; but was defeated at Morgarten in the canton 
of Schwitz, notwithstanding the whole Swiss army did 
not amount to more than 1300 men. Upon this event, 
on the eighth of December in the same year, they en- 
tered into a perpetual alliance. As this signaFvictory 
was gained in the canton of Schwitz, and the men of 
that district particularly signalized themselves in the ac- 
tion, the other two cantons were from that time joined 
to it by the common name of Switzers ; which name 
has been since extended to all the other cantons and their 
allies, on their being received into the union. The 
firmness and intrepidity with which the Switzers con- 
ducted themselves in the recovery of their liberties, were 
equalled by nothing but the moderation with which they 
behaved to their tyrannical rulers, whom they conduct- 
ed out of their territories, and contented themselves 
with exacting an oath from them that they would never 
more set foot in the country. 

In 1332 Lucern acceded to this alliance; in 1351 
they were joined by Zurich and Glaris; and in 1352 
their number was increased, by their being joined by 
Zug and Bern. For the space of 125 years this con- 
federacy was composed only of these eight cantons ; but 
in 1481 Freyburg and Soluthurn, and in 1501 Basil and 
Schaffhausen were admitted into the confederacy ; and 
in 1513 Appenzel also acceded to it. 

The federal union, however, extends no farther than 
is necessary for their mutual defence, and accommoda- 
ting differences that may arise between two or more 
towns or cantons, and in all other affairs they are left to 
their liberty, particularly with respect to concluding alli- 
ances with foreign powers, their granting auxiliaries, re- 
ceiving subsidies, permitting a passage to foreign troops, 
and also in their transactions among each other ; as the 
sending of envoys to foreign states, adjusting the value 
of their coins, or calling them in, and other matters of 
public concern ; though, both in their foreign and do- 
mestic affairs, great pains are taken to produce ail una- 
nimity of opinion, in order to add the geater weight to 



Swisserland* 143 

their resolutions. Besides, every town and canton \s r 
in itself, an independent state, enjoys the privilege of 
modelling its own form of government, and of making 
laws, without any obstruction from the other members 
of the confederacy. 

Thus the whole Helvetic confederacy properly con- 
sists of thirteen distinct republics, or free states, united 
by oath for their mutual security and defence. It has. 
now for some centuries supported itself in an absolute 
freedom and independency ; made wars, concluded trea- 
ties, received and sent envoys from and to the several 
European powers ; entered into alliances with them j 
given what form they thought proper to their constitu- 
tion; enacted laws and ordinances, both in temporal 
and spiritual affairs ; and exercised all the variouspre- 
rogatives of sovereignty. 

By the peace of Westphalia in 1643, the Helvetic 
confederacy was acknowledged to be a free state, even 
by the emperor and empire ; at which time they were 
so addressed by the French king, the king of Great 
Britain, the king of Sweden, the king of Prussia, and 
the Pope. 

The form of government in the states of the Helve- 
tic republic is in some aristocratieal, and jh others de- 
mocratieal. Two of the former have supreme heads* 
who are princes of the empire ; as the bishops of Ba- 
sil, and abbot of St. Gall. The aristocratieal govern- 
ments are the cantons of Zurich, Basil, and Schaffhau- 
sen, with some incorporated places, as the towns of St. 
Gall, Muhihausen, and Biel, which are governed by six 
burgomasters ; the cantons of Bern, Lucern, Freyburg,. 
and Solothurn, or Soleure, over which are appointed 
justiciaries ; and Neuenburg and Geneva, where the 
supreme power is lodged in bailiffs. The democratical 
form of government prevails in the six cantons of Uri, 
Schwitz, Underwald, Zug, Glaris, and Appenzel, which 
are under the direction of landammen, and also some 
variation in the eight acceding places, as the Grisons 
and the Valais ; but in all of them every male from 
sixteen years of age has a vote. Whether the govern- 



144 History of all Aatiorif. 

ment be aristocratical, democratical or mixed, absolute! 
or limited, a general spirit of liberty pervades and actu- 
ates the several constitutions. 

The revenues of the states are the usual imports, 
tythes, annualincomes, payments annexed to the sove- 
reignty, and their subsidies. 

A general diet of the cantons usually meets once a 
year, and continues in common not above a month. — 
Their business is to consider of the methods most pro- 
per to be taken for the common good and safety of the 
whole Helvetic body. Besides which annual diet, each 
canton has the liberty of summoning an extraordinary 
one ; or a foreign minister may convoke one. The diet 
is composed of two deputies from each canton, who 
rank according to the order of their canton. The abbots 
of St. Gall and Bienne send their deputies to it as allies. 
One of the deputies from Zurich always presides on 
these occasions. 

Beside these general diets, there are two particular 
ones : the one held at Arrow, in which are settled the 
concerns of all the Protestant cantons; the other at Lu- 
cern, in which the Roman catholic cantons transact the 
affairs of their body. If the thirteen cantons send am- 
bassadors to a foreign court, they do not delegate one 
man to represent them all, but each canton appoints its 
own ambassador, to shew its distinct and independent 
state. 

Mr. Stanyan, who seems to have studied the govern* 
ment of the Swiss, as well as the genius of the people, 
with great impartiality and discernment, passes the se- 
verest censure upon their corrupt administration of jus- 
tice. The code of Charles V. which is known by the 
name of " the Caroline code," forms in each of the 
republics the principal basis of the penal laws.-— 
Mr. Coxe says much too great a latitude is allowed to 
the judges. The regulations respecting their prisons- 
the same traveller much commends. Criminals are 
there confined in wholesome and separate wards, and are 
brought to trial soon after their commitment, The trial 
by torture is not yet abolished. Drunkenness, stupidi- 



Swisserland. 145 

tjr, and mercenary valour, which are the defects com- 
monly charged upon them, he takes great pains to clear 
them of. Their women, he asserts, want no charms 
either in their persons or conversation ; especially in 
the three most polished cantons of Berne, Freyburg, and 
Soleure or Solothurn. 

At an early period of the French revolution, the cries 
of liberty and equality were echoed, with a martial voice, 
in the sequestered vales and mountains of Swisserland ; 
where peace, content, and industry, had resided for some 
ages. 

In 1797, the French directory made certain menacing 
demands on the Swiss cantons* The senate sent an em- 
bassy to Paris, with an offer to accommodate all existing 
disputes in any manner " not inconsistent with the in- 
dependence of a free people :" but the deputies were or- 
dered to return ; and it was intimated, as the price of 
peace, " that the ancient magistrates were to be dismis- 
sed, and a new constitution, founded on democratical 
principles, established." On hearing this degrading 
proposition* the patrician families determined upon re- 
sistance* An army of twenty -five thousand men was in- 
trusted to baron d'Erlach, who was too eager to decide 
the fate of his country in a pitched battle. In the mean 
time the management of the war was confided by the di- 
rectory to general Brune : he immediately entered the 
territories of Berne, and published a flattering proclama- 
tion, which concluded with these words : " Be free— - 
France invites, nature commands it; and to employ 
this precious advantage, you have only to express the 
wish !" 

As the troops of Berne retired, and those of France 
advanced towards the capital of the cantons, mutiny and 
disaffection became prevalent in the former, while terror 
and dismay preceded the march of the latter. At 
length, the magistrates, perceiving that the levy of the 
peasantry, instead of meliorating, rendered their own 
situation more desperate, determined on abdicating 
emploj^ments which they had no prospect of maintain- 
ing ; and the popular party, headed by Tiller and Bay, 



146 History of all Nations o 

having obtained the superiority in the council, a provi- 
sional regency was nominated, and intelligence of this 
sudden revolution conveyed to the French general 

A treaty was now formed, but being dictated partly 
from policy and partly from necessity, (as the French 
met with a defeat from the confederates) it was neither 
agreeable to the French nor to the Helvetic directory ; 
and, unfortunately, a pietext was speedily afforded lor 
the renewal of hostilities, as Underwalden, exhibiting a 
fastidious perseverance, obstinately refused to accede 
to any conditions whatever. On this the French marched 

targe army into that canton, and, after a terrible battle 
of two days duration, during which clubs and spears 
were in vain opposed to muskets and bayonets, and 
fragments of rock to a regular artillery, the hardy moun- 
taineers were overcome, the town of Standtz taken by 
assault, the houses in its beautiful valley destroyed by 
fire, and the inhabitants nearly exterminated by a furious 
and implacable soldiery. After this all the Swiss sub- 
mitted to the new constitution. 

Thus, after enjoying the sweets of independence since 
the beginning of the fourteenth century, when the fortu- 
nate issue of a contest with Albert of Austria laid the 
foundation of their liberties, and also produced, perhaps, 
the revolutions of England, America, and France, the 
federate republics of Swisserland w T ere overcome by 
a foreign enemy, and compelled to change the form of 
their government. The pretext for their ruin originat- 
ed in the notorious injustice of the canton of Berne to 
the small states subjected to its controul : and this in- 
tolerable yoke, instead of being lightened, was increased 
during a war which had effected so many memorable 
changes. 

The allied powers, Austria and Russia, sent a numerous 
army to dispossess the French of their influence in 
Swisserland, under the command of two brave and expe. 
rienced generals, the archduke Charles and prince So- 
warroff i But, after a number of bloody battles, the 
French under generals Massena and Lecourbe succeed- 
ed in expelling the allied forces out of Swisserland. 



Swisserland. 147 

OF one hundred thousand men who had left Russia 
with Sowarroff, or joined him afterwards, scarcely forty 
thousand retreated with him to the Lech. After thus 
losing nearly sixty thousand of his best warriors (with 
whom he had formerly massacred and conquered the un- 
fortunate Polanders) the veteran marshal, for the first 
time in his life, was forced to retreat before the French 
republicans ; overwhelmed with grief, he retired to his 
native country, where, being exposed at the same time 
to the frowns of fortune and the indignation of his capri- 
cious master, he shortly perished, either by poison or 
despair ! 

The treaties of Lunenville and Amiens, which gave 
the semblance of peace to Europe, at the expence of 
the gigantic acquisitions of France, and the establish- 
ment of her military chief, held out to the Helvetic con- 
federacy a guarantee of her ancient freedom and inde- 
pendence. Such however is the present situation of the 
European powers, that the faith of treaties is no longer 
a pledge of security to the weaker states, against the am- 
bition and power of the strong; when the hour of action 
arrives, plausible pretences are never wanting to furnish 
a prologue to the tragedy of oppression and injustice. 
Unhappy Swisserland has lately furnished a melancholy 
proof of this observation. 

Internal disputes have been alleclged as the cause of the 
late interference of the French government in the affairs 
of Swisserland. This interference of France, among 
some other causes, has paved the way to the present Eu- 
ropean war. Let us be grateful to our beneficent Crea- 
tor, for placing the wide Atlantic betwixt us and the . 
contending powers of Europe. 

Religion.] The two prevailing religions are the 
Calvinistical and Popish ; the former is professed by 
four cantons, five annexed places, and three govern- 
ments : the latter is established in seven cantons, three 
incorporated districts, twelve governments, and the 
like number of protected places. In two cantons 
among the Grisons, five governments, and two 
protected places, both religions are on an equal footing. 



148 History of all Nations, 

Each town, place, and state, has its own particular 
constitution, for the management of its churches, 
schools, and other ecclesiastical afFairs. — Payne. 

CHAPTER XIX. 
OTTOMAN OR TURKISH EMPIRE. 

The Turks are of Tartarian or Scythian extraction \ 
and this appellation was first given them in the middle 
ages as a proper name ; it being a general title of honor 
to all the nations comprehended under the two principal 
branches of Tartar and Mongol, who therefore never 
use it as a proper name of any particular Scythian or 
Tartarian nation. The word tur, as an adjective, signi- 
fies sublime and pre-eminent ; and, as a substantive, 
a governor. The Scythian or Tartarian nation, to 
which the name of Turks have been peculiarly given, 
dwelt betwixt the Black and Caspian Seas, and became 
first known in the seventh century, when Heraclitus, 
emperor of the east, took them into his service ; in 
which they so distinguished themselves by their fidelity 
and bravery in the conquest of Persia, that the Arabian 
and Saracen caliphs had not only select bodies of them for 
guards, but their armies were composed of them. Thus 
gradually getting the power into their hands, they set 
up and dethroned caliphs at pleasure. By this strict 
union of the Turks with the Saracens or Arabs, the for- 
mer were brought to embrace the Mahometan religion, 
so that they are now become intermixed, and have jointly 
enlarged their conquests ; but as the Turks became su- 
perior to the Saracens, they subdued them. 

Prince Cantemir gives the following account of the 
origin of the Ottoman empire. 

Genghiskan, at the head of his horse, issued out of 
Great Tartary, and made himself master of a vast tract of 
land near the Caspian Sea, and even of all Persia, and 
Asia Minor. Incited by his example and success ? 



Ottoman or Turkish Empire. 149 

Schah Solyman, prince of the town of Nera, on the 
Caspian Sea, in the year 1214, passed Mount Cauca- 
sus with fifty thousand men, and penetrated as far as the 
borders of Syria ; and though liis career was stopped 
there by the Genghiskan Tartars, yet in the year 1219 
he penetrated a second time into Asia Minor, as far as 
the Euphrates. Othman, his grandson, made himself 
master of several countries and places in Lesser Asia, 
belonging to the Grecian empire : and having, in the 
year 1300, at the city of Carachifer, assumed the title 
of Emperor of the Othmans, called his people after his 
own name. This prince, among many other towns, 
took, in the year 1326, Prusa, in Brythnia, now called 
Bursa, which Orchan, his son and successor, made the 
seat of his empire. Orchan sent Solyman and Amu- 
rath, his two sons, on an expedition into Europe ; the 
former of whom reduced the city of Gallipolis, and the 
latter took Tyrilos. Amurath succeeded his father in 
the government in 1360, took Ancrya, Adrianople, and 
Philippopolis ; and, in 1362 over-ran Servia, and invad- 
ed Macedonia and Albania. Bajazet, his son and suc- 
cessor, was very successful both in Europe and Asia, 
defeating the Christians near Nicopolis ; but, in 1401, 
he was routed and taken prisoner by Tamerlane. His 
sons disagreed ; but Mahomet I. enjoyed the sovereign- 
ty, and his son Amurath II. distinguished himself by 
several important enterprizes, and particularly in the 
year 1444 gained a signal victory over the Hungarians 
near Varna. Mahomet II. the greatest of all the empe- 
rors, in 1453, made himself master of Constantinople^ 
and reduced the whole Grecian empire under his domin- 
ion, subduing twelve kingdoms and two hundred towns. 
After this, Bajazet II. and Selim I. enlarged the Turkish 
empire in Europe, Asia, and Africa ; and Solyman I. 
became not less famous for his victory over the Hunga- 
rians than for his body of laws. 

The succeeding emperors were less successful ; for 
though Mahomet IV. subdued Candia, and laid siege 
to Vienna, he met with ill success in Hungary ; and in 
the reigns of Solyman II. Achmet II, and Mustapha, 



150 History of all Aations: 

the Hungarians and Venetians were so successful against 
the Turks, that Mustapha II. in 1699, was glad to con- 
clude the peace of Carlowitz. Mahomet III. in 1718, 
agreed to the peace of Passarowitz ; but Achmet V. by 
the peace of Belgrade, in 1739, re-annexed Servia, a 
part of Walachia, and Choczin, to the empire. 

Government. — The titles of the emperor, accord- 
ing to the customs of the East, are very prolix and mag- 
nificent, as will appear from the following specimen. 
We, the servant and lord of the most honoured and 
blessed cities, the venerable houses, and sacred places, 
before which all nations bow ; of Mecca, which God 
delights to honour ; of the splendid Medina, and the 
holy city of Jerusalem ; of the imperial and desirable ci- 
ties of Constantinople, Adrianople, and Bursa, emper- 
or ; also of Babylon, Damascus, of the fragrant Paradise 
and the incomparable Egypt ; of all Arabia, Aleppo, 
Antioch, and many other highly and celebrated places, 
cities, and faithful vassals, emperors ; emperor of em- 
perors, the most gracious and all-powerful sultan, &c. 

The Turkish arms are a crescent. ^ 

In the succession to the empire no regard is paid to 
age or birthright, the Turks deeming it sufficient, if, in 
their elections, they keep to the Othman family : but 
women are excluded from the throne. Though the go- 
vernment is purely monarchical and despotic, yet if the 
emperor is inattentive to gratify the humours of the peo- 
ple, and especially of the mutinous janizaries, he is not 
only in danger of being deposed, but also of being mur- 
dered. 

The emperor's divan, or council of state, meets 
twice a- week in the emperor's palace, that is, on Sun- 
days and Thursdays. The grand vizier, who sits as 
president, has on his right hand the cadinlaskier of Ro- 
rnelia, and on his left that of Natolia. The mufti also 
assists when expressly summoned. All the other viziers 
have likewise a seat here, and next to them stand on 
one side the testerdar, or high treasurer, the reis-effendi, 
or secretary of state, and other commissioners of the ex- 
chequer; but the military officers, as the aga of the ja- 



Ottoman or Turkish Empire, 151 

nizaries, the aga of the spahis, the aga of the siluds, &c. 
sit within the divan. These several members wear a 
particular habit. The sultan does not enter the room, 
but hears what passes from an adjoining chamber, which 
looks into the divan. 

When he'convenes a general council, to which all the 
great persons of the empire are summoned, as the clergy,; 
the military, and other officers, and even the old and. 
most experienced soldiers, such a divan is called ajak 
divani, the whole assembly standing. 

The highest office, next to the sultan, is the vizier 
azem, or grand vizier, who has the whole care of the 
empire, and is not only intrusted with the management 
of the revenue, with foreign affairs, and the administra- 
tion of justice in civil and criminal concerns, but also* 
with the conduct of wars, and the command of armies. 
When the sultan nominates this great officer, he puts 
into his hand the seal of the empire, upon which is 
engraven his name. This is the badge of his office,, 
and he always carries it in his bosom. With this seal 
he dispatches all his orders, without consulting any one. 
His power is unlimited, except with respect to the 
troops, which he cannot punish without the consent of 
the commanders. All affairs are decided by his judg- 
ment ; and he disposes of all the posts in the empire^ 
except those of judicature. 

The grand vizier lives in the utmost splendour; he 
has above two thousand officers and domestics in his 
palace, and when he appears in public has his turban 
adorned with two plumes of feathers, enriched with di- 
amonds and precious stones ; the harness of his horse is 
usually set with rubies and turquoises, and his housing* 
richly embroidered with gold and pearls. His guard is 
composed of about four hundred Bosnians, or Albani- 
ans, some of whom attend him on foot when he goes to 
the divan ; but when he marches into the field, they are 
all well mounted, and carry a lance, a sword, a hatchet, 
and a brace of pistols. He is preceded by three horse- 
tails, on the top of which is a go!4 ball. This is the 



152 History of all A atiom* 

military ensign of the Ottomans ; for one of their gene- 
rals being at a loss how to rally his troops^ who had lost 
all their standards, cut off a horse's tail, and erecting it 
on the point of a lance, the soldiers flocked to this new 
ensign, renewed their attack, and became victorious. 

When the sultan honors the grand vizier with the 
command of an army, he takes out one of the plumes 
of his own turban, and delivers it to him to place in his 
own. Upon his receiving this mark of distinction, the 
soldiers acknowledge him for their general. The grand 
vizier's income, without being guilty of any injustice, 
amounts to about six hundred thousand dollars a year, 
(135,000/. sterling,) exclusive of presents and other 
perquisites. But notwithstanding the greatness of his 
revenue, and the splendor in which he lives, he is expo- 
sed to continual danger ; it being the usual policy to 
screen themselves from the clamors of the people, by 
throwing the whole blame of any instance of mal-ad^ 
ministration on this officer, and giving him up to the 
public resentment. 

Next to the grand vizier are six others, styled " viz- 
ier of the bench or council," and " bashas of three 
horse-tails;" because, when they march, three horse- 
tails are carried before them, while only one is carried 
before the ordinary bashas. These viziers ought to be. 
men distinguished by their wisdom, and their know- 
ledge of the laws. They assist at the divan, but never 
deliver their opinion upon the affairs which are discus- 
sed there, unless required by the grand vizier. These 
have each two thousand crowns a year, and the grand 
vizier often refers matters of small consequence to them, 
as well as to the ordinary judges. Cady is a word used 
for all judges of a province or particular place. 

A beglerbeg is a viceroy, with several provinces un- 
der his command, the name itself signifying a prince of 
princes. The three principal are the beglerbeg of Ro- 
inelia, who resides at Sophia; the beglerbeg of Natolia, 
the seat of whose government is at Cutabia; and the 
beglerbeg of Damascus, who keeps his court in that 



-Ottoman or 'Turkish Empire. 153 

city. Under these are the bashas or governors, whose 
posts are very considerable, but precarious ; and subor- 
dinate to these are the sangiacs, who may be termed de- 
puty-governors. These are all military officers. 

The reis-effendi, also called the reis-kital, is lord 
chancellor and secretary of state. His name signifies 
chief of the writers. He attends on the vizier to pass 
orders, decrees, patents, and commissions, into all parts 
of the empire, which are daily dispatched in incredible 
numbers, and therefore he employs a multitude of clerks 
in his office. 

The public treasury is under the management of the 
testerdar, or high treasurer. The money of this trea- 
sury, called the public money of the mussulmans, is not 
to be touched even by the emperor but in the greatest 
exigency, much less for private occasions. The sul- 
tan's private treasury, which he disposes of according 
to his own pleasure, is under the care of the hasnadar 
basehi, who is the next person in rank to the kislar in 
the seraglio. Prince Cantemir says, that, in his time, 
twenty- seven thousand purses, amounting to thirteen 
millions and a half of rix-dolkrs, were annually return- 
ed to both treasuries. The confiscations of the estates 
and effects of the bashas, and other officers, together 
with the money arising from the escheats of Turks dy- 
ing without male issue, make also a very considerable 
article. 

The janizaries are the flower of the Turkish forces - T 
they are all infantry, and were first formed of captive 
Christians, by the emperor Amurath I. about the year 
1360. Their number generally amounts to forty thou- 
sand, divided into a hundred and sixty-two companies, 
or chambers, called odas, in which they live together at 
Constantinople, as in a convent. The janizaries are of 
a superior rank to all other soldiers ; and are also more 
arrogant and factious, whence it is that by them the 
public tranquility is chiefly disturbed. " The govern^ 
ment," says the lady Wortley Montague, " is entirely in 
the hands of the army. The grand seignior, with all 
his absolute power, is as much a slave as any of his sub- 



1 54 History of all Nations. 

jects, and trembles at a janizary's frown. Here is, in- 
deed, a much greater appearance of subjection than 
amongst us: a minister of state is not spoken to but upon 
the knee ; should a reflection on his conduct be dropped 
in a coffee-house (for they have their spies every where) 
the house would be razed to the ground, and perhaps 
the whole company put to the torture. Yet, when a 
minister here displeases the people, in three hours time 
he is dragged even from his master's arms. They cut 
off his hands, head, and feet, and throw them before 
the palace gate, with all the respect in the world ; while 
the sultan, to whom they all profess an unlimited ado- 
ration, sits trembling in his apartment, and dares nei- 
ther defend nor revenge his favorite." 

The Rise, Progress and Establishment of Mahome~ 
tanism. 

• A subject so curious and important as the religion 
established by Mahomet, which has been professed for 
more than eleven centuries by many millions of the hu- 
man race, and which at present prevails from the Ganges 
to Morocco, exclusive of a vast number of very popu- 
lous islands, and every country where the tribes of Ma- 
lays settle, in one direction, and from the southern ex- 
tremity of Arabia, to the borders of Hungary, in another^, 
deserves to be particularly enlarged upon. 

Mahomet, or more properly Mohammed, the founder 
of this singular and spreading faith, was born in the year 
569 of the Christian era; he sprung from the tribe of 
Koraish, and the family of Hashem ; his grandfather, 
uncles, and lineal ancestors were princes ; his family 
possessed by hereditary right the custody of the Caaba 
at Mecca, which was a place of worship resorted to by 
the Arabians long before the time of Mahomet, Not- 
withstanding the respectability of his descent, being left 
an orphan when very young, and being in low circum- 
stances, he was recommended to Khadijah, a noble and 
rich widow, for her factor, he having been bred to mer- 
chandise, in which capacity he acquitted himself so well, 



Ottoman or Turkish Empire. 155 

that he gained the affections of his mistress, and by 
marrying her, became as rich a merchant as any in 
Mecca : his kindness, attachment, and strict fidelity to 
his wife, who was much older than himself, during more 
than twenty years, bespeak a susceptible heart, and a 
generous and noble nature. His natural strength of 
mind, and intrepidity of spirit, prompted him to form 
great designs when his fortunes improved, although it 
is said that he was so illiterate as not to be capable of 
reading or writing. This want of learning was so far 
from proving an impediment to him in effecting his de- 
signs, that it very strongly promoted them ; for the 
crafty Arab, who must unquestionably have merely 
affected this gross ignorance, insisted that the writings 
which he produced as revelations from God, were clear- 
ed of all imputation of being forgeries, for such elegance 
of style and excellence of doctrine could not originate 
from a man incapable alike of writing or reading ; for 
this reason his followers, instead of being ashamed of 
their master's ignorance, glory in it, as an evident proof 
of his divine mission, and scruple not to call him, as he 
is called in the Koran itself, " the illiterate prophet." 
Sir William Jones relates a traditional story concerning 
the celebrated poet Lebid, who was a contemporary 
with Mahomet, and an avowed enemy to his new doc- 
trine at its first promulgation ; who, to express his op- 
position to it, hung a poem on the gate of the temple, as 
was then customary to be done, which poem contained 
a strong implied contempt of the new religion ; this 
piece appeared so sublime that none of the poets chose 
to attempt an answer to it, till Mahomet, who was like- 
wise a poet, having composed a chapter of the Koran, 
placed the exordium of it by the side of Lebid's poem, 
who no sooner read it, than he declared it to be some- 
thing divine, confessed his own inferiority, tore his 
verses from the gate, embraced the religion he had stig- 
matized, and became afterwards essentially serviceable in 
replying to the satires of Amralkeis, who was unwearied 
in his attacks upon the doctrine of Mohammed. Essay 
on the Poetry of the Eastern JSations, p. 137. 



1 56 History of all Nations. 

The state of the world at that time was highly favour- 
able to the introduction of a new religion : it had been 
the will of heaven to permit the purity and simplicity of 
the doctrines of Christ to be contaminated and perverted 
by the crafty wiles of priestcraft, which caused the gros- 
sest impositions to be practised upon an ignorant laity ; 
pomp, splendour, and unintelligible worship, were sub- 
stituted for the devotion of the heart, whilst the prayers 
offered up to imaginary and fictitious saints had effaced 
all just notions of the attributes of the Deity. Moham- 
med had made two journies into Syria, where he had 
informed himself of the principles of Judaism, and the 
jargon which bore the name of Christianity ; it is probable 
that his mind was naturally prone to religious enthusi- 
asm, and that he was a devotee before he became an 
impostor. His first design seems to have extended no 
farther than to bring the wild, intractable, and ardent 
Arabs to acknowledge one God and one King, and it 
is probable that for a considerable time his ambition ex- 
tended no farther than to become the spiritual and tem- 
poral sovereign of Arabia. He began his eventful pro- 
ject by accusing both Jews and Christians with corrupt- 
ing the revelations which had been made to them from 
heaven, and maintained that both Moses and Jesus 
Christ had prophetically foretold the coming of & prophet 
from God which was accomplished in himself, the last 
and greatest of the prophets; thus initiated, he proceed- 
ed to deliver detached sentences, as he pretended to 
receive them from the Almighty, by the hand of the 
angel Gabriel. These pretensions to a divine mission 
drew on him a requisition from the inhabitants of Mecca 
that he would convince them by working a miracle : but 
lie replied, " God refuses those signs and wonders that 
would depreciate the merit of faith, and aggravate the 
guilt of infidelity." The unity of God was the grand 
and leading article in the creed he taught, to which was 
closely joined his own divine mission : Allah il alla/i, 
Muhamed rescul Allah, is their preface to every act of 
devotion, and the sentence continually in their mouths : 



Ottoman or Turkish Empire, 157 

which is, " there is but one God, and Mohammed is 
his prophet." 

The Arabian tribes, who occupied the country from 
Mecca to the Euphrates, were at that time known by 
the name of Saracens ; their religion was chiefly gross 
idolatry, Sabianism having spread almost over the whole 
nation, though there were likewise great numbers of 
Christians, Jews, and Magians interspersed in those 
parts. The essence of that worship principally con- 
sisted in adoring the planets and fixed stars ; angels and 
images they honoured as inferior deities, whose inter- 
cessions with the Almighty in their favour they im- 
plored : they believed in one God, in the future punish- 
ment of the wicked, for a long series of years, though 
not for ever ; and constantly prayed three times a day ; 
namely, at sun-rise, at its declination, and at sun -set : 
they fasted three times a year ; during 30 days, 9 days, and 
7 days : they offered many sacrifices, but ate no part of 
them, the whole being burnt : they likewise turned their 
faces, when praying, to a particular part of the horison : 
they performed pilgrimages to the city of Harran, in 
Mesopotamia, and had a great respect for the temple of 
Mecca and the pyramids of Egypt, imagining the latter 
to be the sepulchres of Seth, also of Enos and Sabi, 
his two sons, whom they considered as the founders of 
their religion. Beside the book of Psalms, they had 
other books which they esteemed equally sacred, par- 
ticularly one, in the Chaldee tongue, which they called 
" the book of Seth." They have been called " Chris- 
tians of St. John the Baptist," whose disciples also they 
pretend to be, using a kind of baptism, which is the 
greatest mark they bear of Christianity : circumcision 
was practised by the Arabs, although Sale is silent on 
that practice, when describing the religion of the Sa- 
bians ; they likewise abstained from swine's flesh. So 
that in this sect we may trace the essential articles of the 
creed of the Mussulmen. 

Mahomet was in the 40th year of his age when he as- 
sumed the character of a prophet ; he had been accus- 
tomed for several years, during the month of Ramadan, 



158 History of aU Nations. 

to withdraw from the world, and secrete himself in a cave 
three miles distant from Mecca ; " conversation," says 
Mr. Gibbon, " enriches the understanding, but solitude 
is the school of genius." During the first three years, 
he made only fourteen proselytes, among which were 
his wife Khadijah ; his servant, or rather slave, Zeid 
Ali, who afterwards married the prophet's favourite 
daughter Fatima, and was sumamed " the lion of God :" 
Abubekar, a man distinguished for his merit and his 
wealth ; the rest consisted of respectable citizens of 
Mecca. The Koreishites, although the tribe from 
which he sprung, were the most violent opposers of the 
new religion. In the 10th year of his prophetic ofiice 
his wife died, and the next year, his enemies having 
formed a design to cut him off, and he being seasonably 
apprized, fled by night to Medina, on the 16th of July, 
622, from which event the, Hegira commenced ; he was 
accompanied only by two or three followers, but he 
made a public entry into that city, and soon gained 
many proselytes, on which he assumed the regal and sa- 
cerdotal characters. As he increased in power, that mo- 
deration and humility which had before distinguished 
his conduct, were gradually erased, and he became fierce 
and sanguinary : he began to avow a design of propa- 
gating his religion by the sword, to destroy the monu- 
ments of idolatry, and, without regarding the sanctity 
of days or months, to pursue the unbelieving nations of 
the earth. 

The Koran inculcates, in the most absolute sense, the 
tenets of faith and predestination ; the first companions 
of Mahomet advanced to battle with a fearless confidence, 
their leader having fully possessed their minds with the 
assurance that paradise awaited those who died fighting 
for the cause of their prophet, the gratifications of which 
were held out to be such as best suited the amorous 
complexions of the Arabians : Houries of black- eyed 
girls resplendent in beauty, blooming youth and virgin 
purity ; every moment of pleasure was there to be pro- 
longed to a thousand years, and the powers of the man 
were to be increased an hundred fold to render him ca- 



Ottoman or Turkish Empire. 159 

pable of such felicity: to those who survived, rich 
spoils and the possession of their female captives were to 
crown their conquests. Mahomet was present at nine 
battles or sieges, and fifty enterprizes of war were at- 
chieved in ten years by himself or his lieutenants. Seven 
years after his flight from Mecca he returned to that city, 
where he was publicly recognized as a prince and pro- 
phet : the idolatrous worship of the Caaba was immedi- 
ately abolished, and succeeded by the simplicity of the 
Mahometan establishment. This Arab lawgiver retain- 
ed both-his mental and bodily powers unimpaired till he 
reached his sixtieth year, then his health began to decline, 
and he himself suspected that a slow poison had been 
administered to him by a Jewess, under the effects of 
which he languished; but his death was caused by a 
fever, in the 63d year of his age, the 632d of the Chris- 
tian era, and 10th of the Hegira. There are some par- 
ticulars told respecting Mahomet, which have gained 
general belief although void of all foundation; such is the 
story of the tame pigeon, which the people were taught to 
believe imparted religious truths to the ear of the pro- 
phet; the epileptic fits, which have been said to cause him 
to fall down as in a trance, he is not supposed to have 
been subject to; and the suspension of his iron coffin 
at Mecca is a most absurd falsehood, it being well 
known that he was buried at Medina in a stone coffin. 

Mahometan religion - . — The most amiable fea- 
tures in the religion which Mahomet established, are, 
profound adoration of one God, whose names, or rather 
titles, are amazingly diversified in the Koran ; (these are 
collected, to the amount of nine hundred and ninety - 
nine, and serve as a manual of devotion ; ) the daily of- 
fering up of prayers to him, which consist of short eja- 
culations, stated fasts, and a constant distribution of a 
large portion of personal property to the relief of the in- 
digent and distressed. Nor is the charity which is en- 
joined confined to alms giving, but comprehends, in its 
fullest extent, general humanity and acts of beneficence 
to all mussulmen. A general resurrection of the dead 
is another article of belief reiterated in the Koran. 



160 History of all JSatiom. 

Whatever superstitious practices adhere to it, cannot be 
imputed to priestcraft, for no religion that ever was pro- 
mulgated to the world, the unadulterated religion of Je^ 
sus Christ excepted, so entirely excluded the influence 
of the priesthood ; it may indeed be called emphatically, 
" the laical religion," since its founder had the address- 
to obtain the most enthusiastic regard to his dogmas, 
without giving wealth or consequence to those who 
were appointed to illustrate and enforce them ; indeed 
the Koran reproaches the Christians for taking their 
priests and monks for their lords beside God. The pil- 
grimage to Mecca, praying toward that place, and the 
ablutions which are enjoined on the most ordinary acts 
and occasions, together with the adoption of that reli- 
gious sophism predestination, in its most extravagant 
extent, seem to comprehend the superstitious parts of 
this religion ; but it has other characteristics which be- 
tray its spurious origin, and prove its destructive ten~ 
dency. 

To compensate for the rigid fastings which it enjoins, 
and the disuse of wine which it requires, a most licen- 
tious indulgence is allowed in the use of women ; and 
though they may not, as has been imputed to them^ 
deny to that sex a future state of existence, yet, as they 
consider women merely as instruments of gratification, 
all those amiable qualities which the sex is capable of 
displaying when its faculties are properly dilated, by a 
judicious and liberal course of education, are suppressed 
as soon as formed. 

Another foul taint in this religion is, the abhorrenc e 
which it creates against all those who do not embrace the' 
same doctrines, and the direct tendency of that faith to 
consign the human mind to a state of arrogant and incu- 
rable ignorance by considering the Koran as comprising 
every thing worthy of being known. The Arabs, from 
the genial influence of their climate, as well as from ha- 
bits transmitted through so many generations as to be 
formed into innate principles, were libidinous beyond 
most of their species, and no individual among them 
felt that propensity stronger than their prophet j neither 



Ottoman or Turkish Empire. 161 

policy nor inclination therefore prompted him to bring 
his principles under severe restraints with respect to 
women; he ought not, however, to be denied the praise 
Which is due to having in some measure tempered the 
lustful fierceness of his countrymen, and he may be said 
to have effected some reformation, when he restrained 
his followers even to four wives, when he forbad inces- 
tuous alliances, entitled a repudiated wife to a dower 
from her husband, made adultery a capital offence, and 
rendered fornication punishable by law. 

Beside the Koran, which is the written law to the 
Mahometans alike as to belief and practice of religion, 
and the administration of public justice, there is the 
Sunnah, or oral law, which was selected two hundred 
years after the death of Mahomet, from a vast number 
of precepts and injunctions which had been handed 
down from age to age, as bearing the stamp of his au^ 
thority , In this work the rite of circumcision is enjoin- 
ed, concerning which the Koran was silent, nor was it 
necessary to be there commanded, as the Arabians ad- 
hered to it before this establishment. By the express 
command of their founder, the Mahometans set apart 
Friday in each week for the especial worship of God. — • 
They are ever assiduous to make converts to their faith, 
nor can they reject the most abject or profligate wretch, 
who declares his desire of becoming a true believer, 
even although they know him to be ignorant alike of 
their language and the principles of their religion. 

We cannot quit the subject of this very remarkable 
religion without observing, that the Romanists, in ex- 
plaining the book of Revelation, insist that the religion 
of Mahomet is pointed out by the predicted \ antichrist ; 
and they have, with much apparent reason, explained 
that mystical number 666, which has been so variously 
unravelled, and is expressly said to be the number of a 
man, or the number of the name of a man, to apply to 
the name of Mahomet ; which, when expressed in the 
Greek, in which language the Apocalypse was written, 
is maometis or moametis- as Euthymius and. the 
Greek historians Zonares and Cedrenus write so. The 

w 



162 History of all Nations * 

letters which compose this word, according to the 
Greek numeration, are thus : 

M , - 40 

O 70 

A 1 

M ...... 40 

E 5 

T 300 

I .10 

S 200 

666 

which must be confessed to be a remarkable coinci- 
dence. Bellarmine, Pastorini's (Bp. Walmesley's) 
History of the Christian Church, p. 366. 

Charity is enjoined in the strongest terms in the Ko- 
ran ; and the Turks are remarkable for acts of benevo- 
lence to the poor and distressed, and are even careful 
to prevent the unfortunate being reduced to necessities. 
They repair highways, erect cisterns of water for the 
convenience of travellers, build kanns or caravanseras 
for their reception ; and some devout people, it is said, 
erect sheds by the way side, that the weary traveller may 
sit under the shade, and take his refreshment. In chap* 
iv. of the Koran, are the following injunctions : " Shew 
kindness to thy parents, to thy relations, to orphans, to 
the poor ; to thy neighbour who is related to thee, and 
to thy neighbour who is a stranger ; to thy familiar com- 
panion, to the traveller, and to the captive whom thy 
right hand has taken ; for God loveth not the proud, 
the vain- glorious, the covetous, or those who bestow 
their wealth in order to be seen of men." 

They name their children as soon as they are born ; 
when the father, putting some grains of salt into its 
mouth, and lifting it on high, as dedicating it to God, 
cries out, " God grant, my son Solyman, that his holy 
name may be as savoury in thy mouth as this salt, and 
that he may preserve thee from being too much in love 
with the world." As to the infants who die young before 



Ottoman or Turkish Empire. 163 

tfiey are circumcised, they believe they are saved by the 
circumcision of their father. 

Their children are not circumcised, like those of the 
Jews, at eight days old, but at eleven or twelve, and 
sometimes at fourteen or fifteen years of age, when they 
are able to make a profession of their faith. On the day 
fixed for the ceremony, the boy is set on horseback, and 
conducted, with music, about the town ; and on his re- 
turn, is circumcised in his father's house. 

The imaum or priest makes a short exhortation, and 
causes him to make his profession of faith, by saying, 
" There is no God but God, and Mahomet is his pro- 
phet ;" then orders the surgeon to place him upon a so- 
pha, and perform the operation. Two servants hold 
a cloth spread out before the child's face, and the sur- 
geon having drawn the fore- skin as low as he can with- 
out prejudice, holds it with his pincers, while he cuts it 
with a razor ; and shewing it to the assistants, cries out, 
" God is great." The child cries out with pain, but 
every one comes to congratulate him on his being ad- 
mitted into the rank of mussulmen, or believers ; and 
on this occasion a feast is made for all the relations and 
friends, who are very merry, and spend their time in 
dancing and singing ; and the next day those who are 
invited make presents to the child. When a renegado 
Christian is circumcised, two basons are usually carried 
after him, to gather the alms which the spectators freely 
give. Those who are uncircumcised, whether Turkish 
children or Christians, are not allowed to be present at 
their public prayers ; and if they are taken in their 
mosques, they are liable to be impaled or burnt. 

The fast of Ramadan is observed by the Turks ex- 
actly in the same manner as by the Persians. The 
feast of Bairam begins with the next new moon after 
that fast, and is published by firing of guns, bonfires, 
and other rejoicings. At this feast the houses and shops 
are adorned with their finest hangings, tapestries, and 
sophas. In the streets are swings ornamented with fes- 
toons, in which the people sit, and are tossed in the air, 
while they are at the same time entertained with vocal 



164 History of all Nations, 

and instrumental music performed by persons hired by 
the masters of the swings. They have also fire-works; 
and, during the three days of this festival, many women, 
who are in a manner confined the rest of the year, have 
liberty to walk abroad. At this time they forgive their 
enemies, and become reconciled to them ; for they think 
they have made a. bad Bairam, if they harbour the least 
malice in their hearts against any person whatsoever. 

They regularly pray three times a day, and are obliged 
to wash before their prayers, as well as before they pre- 
sume to touch the Koran. As they make great use of 
their fingers in eating, they are required to wash after 
every meal, and the more cleanly among them do it before 
meals. Every time they cohabit with their women, 
they must go to the bagnio before they presume to pray ; 
thus thev are never lone' together out of water. 

By the Mahometan law a man may divorce his wife 
twice, and if he afterwards repents, he may lawfully take 
her again ; but Mahomet to prevent his followers from 
divorcing their wives upon every slight occasion, or mere- 
ly from an inconstant humour, ordained, that if any man 
divorces his wife a third time, it is not lawful for him to 
take her again, till she has been married and bedded by 
another, and divorced from that husband. The Koran 
allows no man to have more than four wives and concu- 
bines, but the prophet and his successors are laid under 
no restriction. 

Church government, by the institutions of Mahomet, 
appears to have centered in the Mufti, and the order of 
the Moulahs, from which the Mufti must be chosen. 
The Moulahs have been looked upon as ecclesiastics, 
and the Mufti as their head : but the Turks consider the 
first rather as expounders of the law, and the latter as the 
great law officer. Those who really act as divines are 
the Imaums, or parish priests, who officiate in, and are 
set aside for the service of the mosques. No church re- 
venues are appropria-ed to the particular use of the 
Moulahs ; the Imaums are the ecclesiastics in immediate 
pay. Their Scheiks are the chiefs of their Dervises, 
(Dervishes) or Monks, and form religious communities s 



Ottoman or Turkish Empire* 165 

or orders, established on solemn vows ; they 1 consecrate 
themselves merely to religious offices, domestic devoti- 
on, and public prayer and preaching : there are four of 
these orders, the Bektoshi, Mevelevi, Kadri, and Seyah, 
who are very numerous throughout the empire. The 
monks of the first of these orders are permitted to marry, 
but are obliged to travel through the empire. The Me- 
velevi, in their acts of devotion, turn round with such 
velocity for two or three hours incessantly, that not even 
a trace of their countenance is perceivable by a spectator. 
They are passionately fond of music, particularly a flute 
formed of an Indian reed : they live in their monastery ; 
profess poverty and humility ; entertain kindly all stran- 
gers, of whatever religion, who visit them ; and receive 
alms. They sometimes even offer to wash the feet of a 
mussulman. The Kadri express their devotion by la- 
cerating their bodies ; they walk the streets almost naked 
with distracted and wild looks ; they hold their hands 
joined together, as if in the act of prayer, except when 
they perform their religious dances, which they con- 
tinue many hours, and sometimes the whole day, re- 
peating incessantly, Hu! hu! hu! hu! one of their names 
of the deity ; until at last, as if they were in a violent 
rage or phrensy, they fall to the ground, foaming at the 
mouth, and every part of the body bathed in sweat. — 
The Seyahs are, like the Indian Fakiers, mere vaga- 
bonds. Sir James Porter's Observations on the Turks, 
p. 40, &c. 

The Turks appropriate to themselves the name of 
Moslemim, which has been corrupted into Mussulman, 
signifying persons professing the doctrine of Mahomet. 
They also term themselves S mnites, or observers of 
the oral traditions of Mahomet and his three successors; 
and likewise call themselves True Believers, in oppo- 
sition to the Persians and others, the adherents of Ali, 
whom they call a wicked and abominable sect. Their 
rule of fairii and practice is tne Koran. Some externals 
of their religion, beside the prescribed ablutions, are 
prayers, which are to be said five times every twenty - 
four hours, with the face turned towards Mecca; alms 



166 History of all J\atiom. 

which are both enjoined and voluntary ; the former con- 
sists of paying two and an half per cent, to charitable 
uses out of their whole income. Their feasts have 
been already spoken of: and every Mahometan must, 
at least, once in his life-time, go in pilgrimage, either 
personally or by proxy, to the Caaba, or house of God 
at Mecca. 

Drinking wine is evidently prohibited in the Koran, 
yet the Turks make use of it occasionally without any 
scruple ; but generally substitute sherbet in its stead, a 
liquor made of honey, spices, and the juice of fruits.— 
Other things interdicted are games of chance, prophe- 
sying with arrows, and certain foods, as blood, pork, or 
the flesh of any beast that has died of sickness, or been 
killed by a wild beast, or by a fall or a stroke. Like- 
wise the worshipping of idols, usury, and some super- 
stitious and Pagan practices. 

The chief officer is the mufti, which name signifies an 
expounder of the law : and his office is of such dignity, 
that when he comes to court, the emperor himself rises 
from his seat, and advances seven steps to meet him. — 
He alone has the honor of kissing the sultan's left shoul- 
der ; while the grand vizier, with a most profound incli- 
nation of the body, kisses only the edge of the empe- 
ror's vest, who advances no more than three steps to 
meet him. The law requires, that the mufti should be 
consulted on all emergencies, particularly in those rela- 
ting to peace or war ; but the peculiar regard shown to 
him is little more than mere form ; for were he either to 
give a disagreeable interpretation of the law> or while in 
council to presume to traverse the emperor's designs, 
he would be instantly deposed, and his place supplied 
by one of a more compliant disposition. On conviction 
of treason, or any other capital crime, he is put into a 
mortar, kept for that purpose in one of the seven towers 
in Constantinople, and pounded to death ; but such an 
act of cruelty has not been committed since the reign of 
Amurath IV. towards the beginning of the last century. 

A revolution took place at Constantinople, on the 
24th of May, 1807. The discontents occasioned among 



Ottoman or Turkish Empire. 1&7 

the people by the scarcity of provisions, and among the 
janizaries by the European exercise and discipline, fur- 
nished the enemies of the government with an occasion 
to excite an insurrection, which cost the unhappy Selim, 
the sultan, his throne and liberty.* On the 24th of May, 
the mufti, at the head of the malcontents, repaired with 
three hundred janizaries to the seraglio, and read to him 
a list of his pretended offences, recited passages from the 
koran, which declared him, on account of those offences, 
unworthy of the throne, and ordered him to sign a re- 
nunciation of it. Selim, seeing no means of resistance, 
signed the deed of renunciation, and begged his life. 
The mufti promised to intercede for him. His person 
was then secured, and fourteen of his principal ministers 
were put to death, Couriers were sent to the camp and 
the Dardenelles, to arrest and strangle the grand vizier 
and the captain pacha. On the 25th of May a procla- 
mation was published in Constantinople, to announce 
to the people that the sultan had been dethroned, and 
to make known his offences, and the passages of the- 
Koran which condemned those offences. The people 
were invited to remain tranquil, and mind their affairs. 
On the 26th, Mustapha, the son of Achmet, was pro- 
claimed grand seignior. During the whole of this revo- 
lution, but few disorders were committed. The mass 
of the people took no part at all ; so that we attribute this 
catastrophe to some chief of parties yet unknown to the 
janizaries. All foreigners had been ordered to be respect- 
ed. We are assured that the grand vizier made no re- 
sistance to the order sent him, and was strangled. Of 
the captain pacha we know nothing. 

The grand vizier had gained some successes before 
he died ; he passed the Danube at Ismail, and forced 
general Michelson to retire from Wallachia to Foksany 
and Rimnick. The new administration is entirely com- 



* He is at the present time, (September) according to the latest and most 
authentic account of him, a prisoner to his cousin and successor, who has 
passed his honour for the inviolability of the person of Selim. 



168 History of all Nations. 

posed of persous devoted to the janizaries. We know 
not what disposition it will shew towards foreign pow- 
ers. 



CHAPTER XX. 

RUSSIA. 

The empire of Russia is the largest upon the whole 
globe. Its boundaries are Poland and the Frozen Sea, 
Sweden and China. It is so extensive that when it is 
noon in the western, it is nearly midnight in the eastern 
parts of this extensive empire. 

The foundation of this vast empire, which was civili- 
zed by the extraordinary labors of Peter the Great, and 
of those princess who have borne the sceptre since, 
and made so conspicuous a figure in the theatre of the 
world, was not laid till the ninth century of the Chris- 
tian sera. 

The same origin is usually ascribed to the inhabitants 
of this country, as to those of Poland, &c. All the 
colonies of the ancient and extensive nation of Sarmatia r 
took in the sixth century the general name Sclavi, by 
which these plunderers meant to express that they were 
pursuers of glory, for such is the signification of that 
word in the Sclavonian language. That of Russia, 
or Rossaia, implies a people that are dispersed or divi- 
ded. 

The earliest authentic account of this country begins 
in the ninth century, when oppressed by the Khosares, a 
tribe of wanderers who inhabited the coast of the 
Black Sea, they implored the aid of the Varages, anoth- 
er numerous and powerful tribe on the confines of the 
Baltic. Rurick, the Varagean general, at the head of a 
large army, penetrated into^Russia, and re-established 
peace, acquired the supreme dominion, and united the- 
several provinces of the empire, A. D. 861. The 



Russia. 169 

family of Rurick were styled Grand Dukes* of Kiow, 
from the province in which they resided. 

Wolodimer first introduced Christianity, A. D. 981. 

We know little of the succeeding sovereigns. They 
remained buried in barbarism and obscurity till John 
Basilowitz I. great duke, threw off the yoke of the 
Tartars, A. D. 1486, to whom Russia had been, during 
the space of two centuries, tributary; expelled the 
Tartar officers from Moscow ; invaded their territories ; 
made himself master of Novogorod, and also of Cassan , 
where he was crowned with the diadem of that country ; 
and assumed the title of Tzar, which in the Sciavonian 
language signifies king or emperor. The reign of this 
prince is the epoch of the grandeur of the Russian em- 
pire. 

To these 'acquisitions his grandson John Basilow- 
itz II. added Astracan, and also Siberia, hitherto as 
little known to the Russians as Mexico was to the Span- 
iards before the expedition of Cortez, and as easi- 
ly conquered. This prince died A. D. 1584, and 
was succeeded by a race of weak despotic sovereigns; 
in the course of whose reigns the kingdom was torn in 
pieces by civil wars, and became the prey of the Poles 
and Swedes. 

At length Michael Theodorowitz, son of Ro- 
mano w, bishop of Rostow, afterwards patriarch, relat* 
ed by females to the tzar John Basilowitz, was raised 
to the throne; and this prince, having concluded a 
peace with Sweden and Poland, in 1618, restored tran- 



* The sovereigns of Russia bore, in their own language, the name of Ve- 
Uk Knez, i. e. great prince, great lord, great chief, which in Christian 
countries was afterwards rendered by that of grand duke. The czar Mi- 
ohael Federovitz, on occasion of the Holstein embassy, assumed the titles 
of Great Knez and Great Lord, Conservator of all the Russias, Prince of 
Wolodimir, Moscow, Novogorod, &.c. Tzar of Casan, Tzar of Astracan, 
Tzar of Siberia. The name of Tzar was, therefore, the title of those 
Oriental princes, and therefore it is more probable for it to be derived 
from the Tshas of Persia, than from the Roman Csesars, whose name 
▼ery likely never reached the ears" of the Siberian tzars on the banks of the 
Oby.— See Dr. Turner's epitome. 

X 



170 History q/'allJStations* 

quility to Russia, and transmitted the crown to his des- 
cendants.* 

His son Alexis Michaelowitz (or son of Michael) 
succeeded in 1645, and published the first code of 
Russian laws. He likewise introduced both the linen 
and silk manufactures, which were not indeed of any 
long continuance, yet he had the merit of their first 
erection. He peopled the deserts towards the Wolga 
and the Kama with Polish and Tartarian families which 
had been made prisoners of war. Before his reign the 
several captives were reduced to slavery; but Alexis 
employed them in tilling' the lands. He died suddenly, 
at the age of 46, A. D. 1675, after shewing himself 
worthy of being father to Peter the Great. 

Alexis left behind him three sons, and a daughter 
who was a woman of great intrigue and spirit. Feodor 
or Theodore, the eldest, ascended the throne at the 
age of fifteen ; a prince of a weak and sickly constitu- 
tion. On his death, his two brothers 

John and Peter were proclaimed joint sovereigns, 
associating their sister Sophia in the government, as 
co-regent. John died in 1689, and Sophia having been, 
confined to a monastery, Peter reigned sole sovereign, 
under the title of Peter I. or Peter the Great. 

This was one of the most extraordinary men that ever 
appeared on the stage of human life. Animated by the 
noble ambition of acquiring instruction, and of carrying 
back to his people the improvement of other nations, he 
quitted his dominions, in 1697, as a private gentleman, 
in the retinue of three ambassadors, whom he sent to dif- 
ferent courts of Europe . 

As soon as Peter arrived at Amsterdam, he applied 
himself to the study of commerce and the mechanical 
arts ; and in order more completely to acquire the art 
of ship- building, he entered himself as a carpenter in one 
of the principal dock-yards, and laboured and lived, in 
all respects, as the common journeymen. At his lei- 



* Modem Europe — Ludolf— Euffendorf— Petreius, &c. 



JRussia. 171 

sure hours he studied natural philosophy, navigation, 
surgery, and other sciences, as may be necessary to the 
sovereign of a barbarous people. From Holland he 
passed into England, where he perfected himself in the 
art of ship-building. King William, in order to gain 
his favour, entertained him with a naval review, made 
him a present of an elegant yacht, and permitted him to 
engage in his service a number of ingenious artificers. 
Thus instructed, and attended by several men of science, 
Peter returned to Russia, after an absence of near two 
years, with all the useful and many of the ornamental 
arts in his train. * 

Under the wise government of this prince, the whole 
face of things was changed ; and Russia, before the seat 
of ignorance and barbarity, was raised to the highest 
pitch of strength and glory. He assumed the title of 
emperor, which was formally acknowledged by all the 
European powers ; and by his noble institutions, liberal 
attempts to civilize his people, and admirable regulation 
of the courts of justice, he deserves to be called the 
founder of the Russian empire. , 

Peter died A. D. 1724, and was succeeded in his 
throne by Czarina Catherine, who reigned in a manner 
becoming the widow of Peter the Great. 

Peter II. (grandson o|" Peter L) succeeded to the im- 
perial crown, on the death of Catherine, A. D. 1727. 
The reign of this prince was turbulent, though short, 
for he fell a victim to the small-pox, A. D. 1730. 

The male issue of Peter the Great being now extinct, 
the Russians raised Anne, duchess of Courland, se- 
cond daughter of John, Peter's eldest brother, to the 
throne. Her reign was glorious and happy. Dying 
without issue, 

John, the son of her niece Catharine, princess of 
Mecklenburg, by Anthony Ulric, duke of Brunswick- 
Woolfenbuttle, was invested with the imperial ensigns 



Voltaire's Russia. Mod. Europe. 



172 History of all hatiom* 

at the age of two years. He was soon after deposed, 
sent into Siberia, and murdered. 

Elizabeth, A. D. 1740, second daughter of Peter 
the Great, was, on this revolution, raised to the throne. 
The reign of this empress was uncommonly glorious. 
She abolished all capital punishments, and introduced a 
spirit of lenity, in the operations of government, before 
unknown in Russia. Her fleets and armies were every 
where victorious. 

She was succeeded, A. D. 1762, in the august 
throne, by her nephew, the duke of Holstein, under the 
name of 

Peter III. This prince began his reign with regu- 
lating, on the most generous principles, his interior go- 
vernment. He freed the nobility and gentry from all 
slavish vassalage, and put them on a footing with those 
of the same rank in other European countries. He re- 
called many unhappy exiles from Siberia, and lessened 
the taxes upon certain necessaries of life, to the great re- 
lief of the poor. These first measures seemed well cal- 
culated to procure him the affections of his people ; but 
being of a rash and irregular turn of mind, he in many 
instances shocked their prejudices, even while he consult- 
ed their interests. He disgusted both the army and the 
church, the two chief pillars of absolute sway ; the for- 
mer by the manifest preference which he gave to his 
Holstein guards, and to all the officers of that country ; 
the latter, by his contempt of the Greek communion, 
having been bred a Lutheran, and by certain innova- 
tions in regard to images ; but more especially by an 
attempt to moderate the revenues of the clergy, and an 
order that they should no longer be " distinguished by 
beards " 

These were high causes of discontent, and threatened 
the throne with all the violence of civil war. But Pe- 
ter's misfortunes immediately arose from a matrimonial 
feud— from the bosom of his own family. He had long 
slighted his concert, Catherine, of the house of Anhalt 
Zerbst, (a woman of a masculine disposition and sound 
understanding, by whose councils he might have pro- 



fiussia. 173 

fited) and now openly lived with the countess of Wo- 
rowzoff, niece to the chancellor of that name. To this 
lady he seemed devoted with so strong a passion, that it 
was generally believed he had some thoughts of shut- 
ting the empress up in a convent, and of raising the 
countess to a partnership of his throne. The dissatis- 
fied part of the nobility, clergy, and chief officers of the 
army, taking advantage of that domestic dissension, 
assembled, on the 28th of June, 1762, in the absence 
of the czar ; deposed him formally, and invested Ca- 
therine with the imperial ensigns. 

The new empress marched at the head of the male- 
contents in quest of her husband. Peter was solacing 
himself with his mistress at one of his houses of plea- 
sure, and expressed the utmost surprise at being told 
the sceptre was departed from him. When convinced 
of the fatal truth, he attempted to escape to Holstein, 
but was seized and thrown into prison, where he expir- 
ed a few days after, of what was called an hcemorrhoidal- 
colic, to which he was said to have been subject. His 
death, by reason of the steps that had preceded it, occa- 
sioned no speculation. » It was indeed an event univer- 
sally expected. Princes dethroned by their subjectSj 
are seldom allowed to languish long in the gloom of a 
dungeon. The jealousy of the successor, or the fears 
of some principal conspirator, commonly make few 
their moments of trouble. 

The reign of Catherine II. was the admiration of 
Europe. She triumphed over the Turks, defeated a 
formidable impostor; extended the commerce and 
greatly increased the navy of Russia. But the life of 
this great woman was not without its blemishes. Her 
ambition was unbounded, and her amours a disgrace to 
her memory. She died the 17th of November, 1796, 
and was succeeded by her son 

Paul Petrowitz. The reign of this prince was 
directly the reverse of that of his mother. Occupied 
about trifles, he was the perpetual plague of his army. — 
With him it was a heinous offence to wear a round hat. 
or to deviate in the least from military etiquette ; b 



174 History of all J\ations« 

his soul was not formed for daring exploits. His no- 
bles and great officers, wearied by his tyrannies, seized 
him, in order to his deposition ; but he struggling against 
their attempts they strangled him with a sash on tl>e 25th 
March, 1801. 

His son, Alexander Paulowitz, the present 
emperor, who ascended the throne of Russia at the age 
of 24, is a young prince greatly admired for the suavity 
of his disposition. 

I Religion of the Russians. — The Russians 
proiess the religion of the Greek church, which was 
first embraced by the great Duchess, Ogla, sovereign of 
Russia, in 955. The external part of their religion 
consists in the number and severity of their fasts, in 
which they greatly surpass the Romish church, amount- 
ing to two-thirds of the year. Their usual weekly 
fas's are on Wednesdays and Fridays. In Lent, they 
neither eat flesh, milk, eggs, nor butter, but confine 
themselves to vegetables, bread, and fish fried in oil. 

The eighth week before Easter, is called " The but- 
ter week," and may be considered as the Russian car- 
nival : : being spent in all kinds of entertainments and 
every species of licentiousness.^ 

A late writer, who made a journey into Siberia, des- 
cribes the state of religion in Russia in the following 
manner : " The common people are bigoted even to 
fanaticism in favour of the Greek religion : this extrava- 
gance increases the farther we get from the capital ; but 
these people are so little acquainted with their religion, 
that they are persuaded they follow all its duties by 
complying with some external ceremonies, and especial- 
ly by keeping Lent fasts with the greatest strictness. In 
other respects, they give themselves up to debauchery, 
and to every kind of vice. Morality is less to be met 
with among the Russians, than among the Pagans their 
neighbors. The opinions of the Russians with regard 
to Christianity are so extraordinary, that it should seem 
as if that religion, so well adapted in itself to the happi- 
ness and good order of society, had only served to make 
"his people more wicked. A murderer was taken and 



Russia. 175 

condemned ; and being asked in the course of his trial s 
whether he kept the Lent fasts? he appeared as much sur- 
prised as the most upright man would have been if his 
honesty had been called in question. He immediately- 
answered with warmth, that he was incapable of neg- 
lecting the duties of his religion. Yet this man was at 
the head of a set of ruffians, and whenever they seized 
upon any traveller, he readily gave up all the booty to 
his companions, on condition they delivered up to him 
the unhappy victims alive. He first undressed them, 
and tied them naked to a tree, without any regard to 
their sex : he then opened their breast near the heart, 
and drank their blood. He declared that he took great 
pleasure in seeing the dreadful contortions and convul- 
sions of these wretched people." — -Chappe. 

iThe Russian parish priests are called Papas, or popes, 
a word signifying father, and indiscriminately applied, in 
the early ages of Christianity, to all ecclesiastics, with- 
out distinction, until it was confined to the bishop of 
Rome, by an edict of George VII. but this order was 
not acceded to by the clergy of the Greek communion. 

The parochial clergy in Russia are generally the re- 
fuse of the people ; and indolent and illiterate, f 

The nobility of Russia never enter into the church, 
the priesthood is composed entirely of the common peo- 
ple. This disjunction of the different orders of the 
state tends greatly to debase the manners, and contract 
the pursuits of each. The alliance between church and 
state is a political axiom not yet understood in this em- 
pire; and where adapted, may be said to " savour more 
of the things that be of man than of those which be of 
God," although it may promote general science, and. 
tend to polish manners. — Dr. King, 



176 History of ail Nations, 



CHAPTER XXI. 

THE NORTHERN KINGDOMS OF SWEDEN, DENMARK, 
AND NORWAY. 

The northern peninsula of Europe, which compre- 
hends the present kingdoms of Sweden, Denmark, and 
Norway, formed part of ancient Scandinavia. 

The rude and warlike inhabitants of this desert, 
known by the general name of Goths, seeking a milder 
climate, and lands more fertile than their forests and 
mountains, made frequent incursions on the continent, 
and at last became so formidable that they broke the 
Roman empire, and established powerful monarchies in 
Gaul, Spain, and Italy. 

The Religion of the ancient Goths, or Scandinavians, 
if the wild opinion of savages can deserve that name, 
was like themselves, bloody and barbarous ; but formed 
to inspire the most enthusiastic courage, and the most 
unremitted perseverance in toil. Odin, whom the 
Saxons called Woden, was their supreme divinity. — 
They painted him as the god of terror, — the author 
of devastation, — and the father of carnage — And they 
worshipped him accordingly. They sacrificed human 
victims to him ; they believed those would stand high- 
est in his favour who had killed most warriors in the 
field ; that after death the brave would be admitted in- 
to his palace, and, have the happiness of drinking 
beer (their favourite liquor) out of the skulls of their 
enemies.* 

SWEDEN. 

That part of Scandinavia, now called Sweden, is 
bounded by the Baltic sea on the south, by the Nor- 
wegian Lapland on the north, by Russia on the east, and 
on the west by the mountains of Norway. 



* Modern Europe, Gibbon, ike. 



Sweden . 177 

No authentic annals of its early inhabitants are now 
extant. In the first periods of its history, we find it, 
like the other northern countries of Europe, parcelled in- 
to small independent states, which were governed by 
their own respective general or chieftain, who was com- 
monly stiled king. 

There is no relying on what has been written concern- 
ing Sweden, till Christianity was introduced, about the 
middle of the ninth century . 

From this period to A..D. 1150, when king Eric IX. 
compelled the Finlanders to receive the Christian faith, 
and ordered the ancient laws and constitutions of the 
kingdom to be collected in one volume, bearing the title 
of " King Eric's laws," — nothing occurs in the Swe- 
dish history that merits particular attention. The chro- 
nology of this kingdom, which before was very doubt- 
ful, from this time is more certain. 

Magnus Ladulas, crowned in 1276, appears to be 
the first king of Sweden who pursued a regular system 
to increase his authority, and with this view made the 
augmentation of the revenues of the crown his particu- 
lar study. This able and judicious prince succeeded 
in making himself independent of his people ; but his 
successors not maintaining their authority with equal 
ability, the kingdom was thrown into the greatest disor- 
der, and continual revolutions followed till the union 
of Sweden, Denmark and Norway, in the fourteenth 
century, under the celebrated Margaret Waldemar, 
commonly styled the Semiramis of the north. 

Margaret was daughter of Waldemar III. king of 
Denmark. She had been married to Hacquin, king of 
Norway, and son of Magnus III. kii.g of Sweden. On 
the death of her son Olaus, the last male heir of the three 
northern crowns (which were at that time more elective 
than hereditary ) she succeeded, by the consent of the 
states, to the Danish throne. She was elected queen of 
Norway, which she governed as regent, and the Swedes, 
being oppressed by their king, Albert, made Margaret a 
solemn tender of their crown. She marched to their as- 
sistance, expelled Albert, and assumed the reins of 

y 



178 History of aU Nations* 

government, A. D. 1394. Thus possessed of three 
kingdoms, she formed the grand political design of a 
perpetual union, which she accomplished {pro tempore 
only) by the famous treaty of Calamar, A. D. 1397. — 
This union proved to be the source of those wars which 
raged in Sweden and Denmark for an hundred years. 

Under Eric, the successor of Margaret, the Swedes 
revolted, choosing their grand marshal Charles Canutson, 
king. They, however, returned to their allegiance un- 
der Christiern I. of Denmark. But they again revolted 
from the same prince — Again renewed the union of 
Calamar, under John his successor — Revolted a third 
time, and were finally by the arms of Christiern II. 
reduced to the condition of a conquered people. 

To secure himself on the throne of Sweden, Chris- 
tiern IL commanded the Senators and chief of the no- 
bility to be massacred at Stockholm, November 9th, A. 
D. 1520. This, perhaps, was one of the most tragical 
scenes in the history of the human race. Under the 
disguise of friendship, he had invited the senators and 
grandees to a sumptuous entertainment. In the unsuspi- 
cious hour of convivality, the hall was filled with armed 
men, and ninety-four persons of distinction were 
led from the paldce to the scaffold erected before the 
door, and executed.* 

From his tyrannical government the Swedes were de- 
livered by the fortitude and zeal of Gustavus Vasa > 
a descendant of the ancient kings, and whose father had 
been put to death in the late massacre. 

This brave prince, to escape the fury of the tyrant, 
concealed himself among the mountains of Dalecarlia. — 
There, bewildered, destitute of every necessary and 
ready to perish with hunger, he entered himself among 
the miners, and worked under ground for bread. He 
afterwards made himself known to them at their annual 
feast, and exhorted them to assist him in restoring the 
liberties of his country. Animated with rage against 



* Vertot. Revolat. Sweden. 



Sweden. 179 

their oppressors, they fled to arms. Gustavus gaining 
many partizans in all corners of the kingdom, saw him- 
self every where victorious. Every thing yielded to 
his valor and good fortune, and the regal dignity was 
conferred on him as the reward of his merit, A. D„ 
1523. 

This brave and patriotic prince introduced and esta- 
tablished by law the Protestant religion, and made com- 
merce and the arts flourish by his wise policy. The 
affairs of the kingdom being thus happily settled, the 
crown was declared to be hereditary by the states of 
Westeraas, A. D. 1544. 

John, his son, ventured to introduce a new Lit- 
urgy, A. D. 1577, and attempted in vain to re-establish 
the Catholic religion. Dying in 1592, he left the crown 
to his son 

Sigismund, who five years before had been elected 
king of Poland. This prince, like his father, being a 
zealous catholic, endeavored to restore popery, for 
which he was dethroned, 1604, and his heirs ex- 
cluded from the succession. His uncle, Charles IX. 
was raised to the sovereignty by the states. He had 
been chiefly instrumental in preserving their religious 
liberties. On his death, in 1611, the sceptre passed to 
his son, the celebrated 

Gustavus Adolphus, whose reign is one of the 
most illustrious periods in the annals of this or any other 
kingdom. He subdued Ingria, Livonia, and Pomera- 
nia ; but, in the midst of all his victories over the ablest 
of the Austrian generals, he was unfortunately killed at 
the battle of Lutzen, in 1632. 

His daughter Christina succeeded. She was not less 
memorable for her passion for literature, and generous 
patronage of learned men, than for her resignation of 
the crown, in 1654, to her cousin 

Charles Augustus, who ascended the throne 
of Sweden under the name of Charles X. This prince 
was successful against the Poles, and drove the Danes 
out of the provinces of Sconen, Smaland, Haland, Ble- 



1 gO History of all Nations . 

kingen, and Bohus-Lehn, which he added to his domin- 
ions. He was succeeded, in 1660, by his son Charles 
XL in whose reign the power of the Swedish monarchs 
became absolute, 1671 In 1697, Charles died, and the 
vacant throne was filled by his son 

Charles XII. one of the most extraordinary men 
that ever appeared on the earth. This young hero, 
when scarcely nineteen, had successively defeated Fred- 
erick IV. of Denmark, Augustus king of Poland, 
whom he afterwards dethroned ; and the czar Peter the 
Great — His restless ambition suggested to him the en- 
tire conquest of Russia. With this view he collected 
a powerful army. The Muscovites in all quarters fled 
before him ; and after several advantages gained over 
the czar's forces, he marched towards the Russian capi- 
tal Moscow : but at the battle of Pultowa he was defeat- 
ed, his army cut to pieces, himself wounded, and obli- 
ged to fly into Turkey. The Ottoman court giving 
him no hopes of assistance, he fortified himself in his 
small retreat at Bender, and, with only about fort)' do- 
mestics, defended it against the Russians, not abandon- 
ing it till they had set it on fire. From Bender he fled 
to Demotika , but displeased with his situation there, 
he resolved to keep his bed as long as he was obliged to 
stay in it. This he actually did for ten months feigning 
himself sick. At length travelling post, with only two 
companions, through Franconia and Mecklenburgh, he 
arrived at Stralsund in November, 1714. Besieged in 
this city, he escaped to Sweden in the most deplorable 
condition. Yet these misfortunes did not abate his rage 
for fighting : he raised a new army, attacked Norway, 
and laid siege to Frederickshall, where he was killed by 
a half pound ball, irom a cannon loaded with grape shot, 
as he was viewing their approaches by star-light, Octo- 
ber, 1718. 

On the death of Charles, the states of the kingdom, 
by a free and voluntary choice, elected his sister, Ulic a 
Eleanor a, for their queen. But they obliged her, by a 
solemn act, to renounce all hereditary claim to the crown, 
that she might hold it entirely by the suffrage of the peo- 



Sweden, 181 

pie ; while she bound herself by the most sacred oaths 
never to attempt the re-establishment of arbitrary power : 
and sacrificing, soon after, the love of royalty to conju- 
gal affection, she married the prince of Hesse, who was 
chosen by the states, and mounted the throne, A. D. 
1720. 

Frederic. By the new plan of government which 
was established, the legislative authority was placed in 
the diet, and the executive rested in the senate. The 
king's consent was necessary for making war or peace ; 
and all laws and ordinances w T ere published in his name. 
Frederic dying without issue, (1751) the states elected 

Adolphus Frederic, a near relation to the late 
monarch, a prince of very moderate abilities. His reign 
was made troublesome by the factions in the senate. 
On his death, in 1771, the Swedish sceptre was given 
to his son, 

Gustavus Adolphus III. who with a bold hand 
seized upon that power, which, it must be confessed, 
had been greatly abused while lodged in the hands of 
the states. In 1772, the Swedish monarch declared 
himself absolute, notwithstanding the solemn oath to 
the contrary, that had been administered to him at his 
coronation. This act of perjury and perfidy brought 
along with it its own punishment. The remaining 
twenty years of the life of Gustavus were spent in jealous 
watchings and fears of his nobles ; and he was reduced 
to the necessity of becoming a tool of the court of Ver- 
sailles, in order to obtain from France those supplies 
which he was afraid to ask from the states of Sweden ! 
On the 16th of March, 1792, the king received an ano- 
nymous letter, advising him not to go to the masquerade 
of that evening, for which he was then preparing. He 
neglected the caution, and was shot in consequence* 
The assasin, a nobleman of the name of Ankarstrom> 
when apprehended, seemed to glory in what he termed 
an act of patriotism ! The wounded monarch lingered 
till the 29th of the same month, and then expired. He 
was succeeded by his son, Gustavus IV. who is the 
present reigning sovereign. Turner. 



182 History of all Nations. 

Religion. — The religion of the Swedes was for- 
merly involved in the greatest ignorance and idolatry. 
The city of Upsal was the seat of their superstitious wor- 
ship. Until the end of the eleventh century, a cele- 
brated temple remained at Upsal, which was enriched 
with the gold which the Scandinavians had acquired in 
their piratical adventures, and sanctified by the uncouth 
representations of their three principal deities, the god 
of war, the goddess of generation, and the god of thun- 
der. In the general festival that was solemnized every 
ninth year, nine animals of every species, without ex- 
cepting the human, were sacrificed, and their bloody 
bodies suspended in the sacred grove adjacent to the 
temple. This temple was destroyed in the year 1075 ; 
and afterwards a christian cathedral was erected on its 
ruins. 

The emperor Charlemagne sent hither the celebrated 
Herbert, who preached the gospel in East Gothland. 
In the middle ages the clergy had obtained the posses- 
sion of several large estates ; and the pope assumed a 
great power over the temporal concerns of the kingdom. 
These abuses procured Olaus Petri, a disciple of Lu- 
ther, a favourable reception in Sweden, where he pro- 
mulgated the pure doctrines of the gospel ; and that 
great king, Gustavus Vasa, happily introduced the re- 
formation into Sweden. In 1741, the king, by a royal 
edict, directed that the Calvinists and members of the 
church of England should enjoy the free exercise of their 
religion in all the sea-ports, except that of Carlscroon. 

When I^utheranism became the established religion 
in Sweden, the Swedes, to express their resentment 
against the Romish priests, by whom they had been 
grievously oppressed, and to render the vows of chastity 
made by that order of men, more certainly, though less 
meritoriously, observed, passed a law, that every ec- 
clesiastic of that church, found in the kingdom, should 
undergo castration. Prior refers to this in his tale of 
Paul Purganti and his wife, when he makes the lady 



JSorthern Kingdoms. 183 

express her resentment against unfaithful husbands, by 
saying — 

" They should be hanged, or starv*d,or flayed, 
Or serv'd like Romish priests in Swede." 

DENMARK. 

This kingdom, which is part of the ancient Scandi- 
navia, is at present bounded on the south by Holstein, 
on the north and on the west by the German Ocean, 
and on the east by the Baltic. 

The old inhabitants of this northern region of Europe 
were rude, fierce, and martjal. Strangers to art and 
industry, they subsisted by riunting, pasturage, and 
plunder ; neglecting agriculture, their uncultivated ter- 
ritories soon became over stocked, and colonies issued 
forth from time to time, under chieftains or generals, 
which at last almost deluged every part of Europe. — 
In these migrations they occasionally bore the appella- 
tion of Cimbres, Goths, Lombards, Angles, and Danes: 

These northern adventurers, after having harrassed 
the coasts of France, with their robberies, and piracies, 
and depredations, under the name of Normans, from 
their northern situation, extended their ravages to 
Britain, where they were known by the general name 
of Danes. 

They first landed in the isle of Shepy, pillaged it, 
and carried off their booty with impunity. The plun- 
derers continued their incursions till the year 1012, 
when their king, Seveno, made a complete conquest of 
England, and left it to his son Canute, who was king 
of England, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. 

During the whole of this period, the history of Den^ 
mark is involved in great uncertainty. But few impor- 
tant and interesting events have been recorded that may 
be relied upon, prior to the reign of the famous Mar- 
garet Waldetnar, who as we have already mentioned,, 
united in her own person the crowns of Sweden, Den- 
mark, and Norway, A. D. 1397. 



184 History of all ISattons. 

This union did not last longer than the beginning of 
the 16th century, when Christiern II. one of the great- 
est tyrants that have disgraced the annals of history, was 
obliged to renounce all claim to Denmark, and Nor- 
way. — From this period nothing worth remark occurs 
in the history of Denmark. 

The present king of Denmark is Christian VII. He 
married Caroline Matilda, sister to king George III. of 
England. She, though an amiable and faithful wife, 
was made prisoner through the unwarrantable intrigues 
of the queen dowager, January 16th, 1772, and con- 
ducted by a British squadron in the May following, to 
the fortress of Zell, where she died of a broken heart. 

The Danish crown has been hereditary since the year 
1600, and absolute power is annexed to it. Norway 
was originally divided into small independent principa- 
lities, which continued till the ninth century, when they 
were all united under Herald Harfager. 

This kingdom was united to the crown of Denmark 
by Margaret, and has ever since been governed by vice- 
roys. It is a very barren and uncultivated country, and 
the regal power is absolute. 

Religion. — The Danes, in ancient times, paid reli- 
gious worship to the gods Fryer, Thyr, Freya, Thor, 
and Odin ; and in the Danish language, four days in the 
week still retain the names of four of these deities, of 
which Odin was the chief. Several attempts were 
made, at different times, in the middle ages, to convert 
the Danes to Christianity ; and in the year 812, Ebbo, 
the bishop of Reims, preached the gospel in Denmark. 
King Herald Clag, who fled for refuge to the emperor 
Lewis, consenting to be baptized, was attended back to 
his kingdom by several monks, who founded churches 
at many places in Denmark. But the succeeding kings 
were the inveterate enemies of the Christians, and most 
cruelly persecuted the new converts. After various 
vicissitudes of fortune, they at length obtained a free 
toleration from king Siveno, about the year 1000. 

In the reign of Frederick I. in 1537, at the diet held 
at Copenhagen, the Lutheran was made the established 



• China. 185 

religion. Other religious sects, as the Calvinists, the 
Jens, the Quakers, &x. enjoy the free exercises of 
worship throughout the Danish dominions. 

The ecclesiastical jurisdiction is under bishops : there, 
are six in Denmark, four in Norway, and two in Ice- 
land. The revenue of the Danish clergy, (which arises 
partly from tythes, and partly from the liberality of their 
respective iiocks) is very considerable. In Denmark 
the living seldom exceeds 400/. or is less than 60/. a year* 
A preacher's widow in Denmark receives half the 
benefit of the first year, and the eighth part of the in- 
come every year after, from the successor of her de- 
ceased husband. In the principal towns of every dio- 
cese is also a widow's-box, in which every preacher 
puts a certain sum ; and if his widow survives him, she 
enjoys an annuity in proportion to what he has contri- 
buted. — Coxe's Travels. 



CHAPTER XXII. 
CHINA. 

The extensive empire of China is situated in the fin- 
est part of Asia, on its eastern extremity : it has Tarta- 
ry to the N. ; Pegu, Siam, and Cochin-China, to the 
S. ; Tibet to the W. ; and the Pacific Ocean to the E. 
Its extent from N. to S. is about twenty-two degrees of 
latitude, being from 42 to 20 ; and from E. to W. about 
twenty degrees of longitude, that is from 101 to 121. 
It is composed of sixteen very large provinces, fifteen 
of which are within the great wall, and one without. 

The origin of the Chinese empire is extremely ob- 
scure. The common traditional history of that mon- 
archy is undoubtedly false, as forty thousand years are 
supposed to have passed' since its foundation ; but ac- 
cording to their regular history, in which the learned 
are pretty well agreed, the dynasties, or royal fiimilies of 
China, whence their kings have sprung, are supposed to 



186 History of all Nations. 

have commenced about 2207 years before the Christian 
aera. Some have conjectured that Noah retired to Chi- 
na after the flood ; others that some of his descendants, 
in the second or third generation, first settled there ; 
whilst some learned men have supposed, particularly* 
M. Hiet, and M. de Guignes, that China was first peo- 
pled by colonies from Egypt, others have stren- 
uously maintained the contrary opinion, namely, that 
Egypt was peopled from China. Each of these con- 
clusions are founded on the great conformity which ap- 
pears between the Chinese and Egyptian customs. The 
foundation of the Chinese monarchy is said to have been 
laid by Yu or Hya, whose virtue, wisdom, and power, 
added to his great age, induced the people to listen to 
him as to an oracle ; and as he regulated all private, as 
well as political and religious affairs, the state soon be- 
came in a flourishing condition. 

The first dynasty of Kings in China, M. de Guignes 
supposes to have been a succession of the kings of 
Thebes in Egypt, but that no Egyptian colony settled 
in China until about the year 1122 before the Christian 
sera. The same learned inquirer seems fully to have 
satisfied himself, that he had discovered a very striking 
conformity between the ancient Phoenician alphabet and 
that of the Chinese; he has likewise taken great pains to 
convince the world, that the hieroglyphics of the Egyp- 
tians are equally manifest in the Chinese writings. 

Among the Chinese philosophers some have main- 
tained the eternity of the world, and the boasted anti- 
quity of the Chinese empire agrees very well with such 
an opinion, some computations carrying up their tradi- 
tions of the first man, whom they call Poan-Kou, very 
near one hundred thousand years before the time of Con- 
fucius. This marvellous assumption, in itself so very 
incredible as to stand in need of the most satisfactoiy 
proof, is in fact very feebly supported, and blended 
with most absurd fictions; such as that in the reign of 
the emperor Yau the sun was observed not to set for 
ten days. Father Fouquet, bishop of Eieutheropolis, 



China. 187 

who examined this subject deeply, makes the result 
of his enquiries to be, that the aera of the Chinese his- 
tory, so far as it is genuine, should commence about 
four hundred years before Christ; some, he says, who 
have investigated the matter, adduce strong reasons for 
bringing it still lower. It must be observed, however, 
that the period settled by the bishop involves in fable 
even the time of Confucius. He admits, indeed, that 
the Chinese nation may be nearly as old as the deluge; 
but then he contends their history deserves very little 
credit any farther back than the period he assigns. — 
See a Chronological Table, consisting of three sheets*, 
published at Rome in the year 1729. 

Of the literature of China, the largest collection in Eu- 
rope is preserved in the imperial academy at Petersburg ; 
according to Mr. Coxe it is composed of 2800 different 
pieces ; but in the late French king's library was de- 
posited a copy of the great annals of the Chinese em- 
pire, which consists of near 700 volumes, of which pro- 
digious work a chronological abridgment was published 
at China the beginning of the present century, in one 
hundred volumes, from which, and from other materi- 
als, the Abbe Grosier has published in French the An- 
nals of China, in twelve quarto volumes. The same 
laborious examiner and able writer has lately favored 
the world with much valuable information concerning 
the Chinese, in a work entitled Description General de la 
Chine, from which the reader will find that we have fre- 
quently drawn our information. 

Upon a close and impartial examination of the proofs 
on which the claim of the Chinese to an almost incon- 
ceivable antiquity is raised, nothing appears of sufficient 
force to invalidate the Mosaic account of the creation of 
the world and the Hebrew chronology, though some 
writers have urged them for that purpose. Having 
premised thus much, we shall proceed to give a short 
sketch of the history of China. 

The form of government in China appears to have 
been invariably monarchical, and the succession general- 
ly hereditary. The history divides the emperors into 



188 History of all Nations . 

twenty -two dynasties, or epochas of each imperial fami- 
ly that has successively filled the throne. 

China is reported to have been first visited by an Eu- 
ropean in the thirteenth century, it being then discovered 
by Marco Paulo, a Venetian, who travelled thither over 
land. His account was afterwards confirmed by the 
Portuguese, in the beginning of the sixteenth century, 
when the famous Albuquerque, in the reign of Eman- 
uel, visited the remote coast. An earlier visit to China 
we shall however speak of in the sequel. 

The history of China, till the middle of the last centu- 
ry, furnishes very few interesting events ; it is little bet- 
ter than a dry narrative of the names and successions of 
their different emperors, and the frequent different civil 
wars which arose between them and the petty princes. — 
These occasioned no revolutions in the form of goven- 
iheht, and furnished no important facts for the historian. 

The Abbe Grosier, speaking of the great wall, which 
was built more than 2100 years since, to prevent the in- 
cursions of the Tartars, says, " This prodigious work 
effaces the most wonderful and gigantic performances of 
antiquity ; the pyramids of Egypt are nothing in com- 
parison with a wall that extends through three great pro- 
vinces, and traverses an extent of country for five hun- 
dred leagues." The Abbe Raynal has the following 
remark on this erection, " The fortifying such a work 
proves that the empire must then have been prodigi- 
ously populous. If the Chinese had been men of cour- 
age they would themselves have attacked the roving- 
tribes, or have kept them in awe by well disciplined ar- 
mies : if they had been skilled in the art of war, they 
would have known that lines continued through such an 
extent could not be defended in every part, and that if 
they were broken out in one place, all the fortification 
would become useless. " Hist. Politique liv. v. This wall is 
about 26 feet high ; at its base it is about 20 feet thick ; 
its breadth at top is about 15, where it is well paved and 
has a parapet on each side. Towers are erected on it at 
about 100 yards distance, the number of which is com- 
puted at 45,000. The Tartars indeed seem to have 



• China. 189 

been the only foreign enemy of the Chinese until about 
the thirteenth century -, when the conquest of Japan was 
projected by some of their emperors, which occasioned 
frequent wars between the two states. 

Towards the end of the thirteenth century the emperor 
Shi-tsu undertook the conquest of Japan, for which 
purpose he transported thither an army of 100,000 
men: but the design miscarried, and the whole arma- 
ment being shipwrecked was totally lost ; so that after 
a conflict continued for several years, he was at length 
obliged to abandon his enterprise, and retire into his 
own territories. 

In 1628 Way-Tsong, or Zun Ching, mounted the 
imperial throne of China; in him the Chinese race of 
emperors terminated, and the 22d dynasty began in the 
person of his successor Tsing, the Tartarian conqueror, 
who effected the greatest revolution in the empire of 
China that their annals record. 

This event happened in the year 1644, when the em- 
pire was torn and enfeebled by domestic dissentions. 
The discontented parties were then so numerous, that 
there were no less than eight different armies under the 
command of as many chiefs. In this season of general 
anarchy, the Tartars, who had become powerful by 
being incorporated with the Manchews, having ravaged 
the northern provinces of the empire with impunity, 
seized upon the capital in the year 1644, and soon after 
subjected the whole kingdom. 

It is truly wonderful that so powerful an empire, al- 
most equal to Europe in extent, and containing double 
its number of inhabitants, (Osbeck computing^the em- 
pire to contain fifty-eight millions of people from twenty 
to sixty years of age) should, in the course of a very fe v/ 
years, be brought under subjection to a foreign prince : 
but the moderation and wisdom of the Tartarian em- 
perors effected as much as their arms ; and the attach- 
ment which they shewed to the established laws and 
forms of government, and their impartiality in dispen- 
sing honours and emoluments, completed their con- 
quest. 



190 History of all Stations. 

Of the history of China, and the succession of em- 
perors, for the last forty years, we have no certain ac- 
counts. The only Europeans who resort to Pekin are 
the Russians, who carry on a very lucrative inland trade 
with the empire, particularly in furs, which are obtained 
from Kamptschatka, some islands between the conti- 
nents of Asia and America, and the western coast of the 
latter continent. The English and Americans have of 
late years brought furs to Canton, which have found a 
good market there. 

The reigning emperor of China was born on the 17th 
of September, 1710; he is named, according to some 
writers, Kam-hi. When lord Macartney was introduced 
in 1793, this prince had reigned 57 years. 

Government. — The emperor is an absolute mo- 
narch, and the respect paid to him is a kind of adora- 
tion ; his commands are as readily and as strictly obeyed 
as if they came from heaven, nor are any admitted to 
speak to him but on their knees ; not even his eldest 
brother, unless it be at his command. None, except 
the lords who attend him, are allowed to stand in his 
presence ; but when they speak to him, they put only 
one knee to the ground. 

The officers receive the same honours when they re- 
present the emperor's person, or give his orders, either 
as mandarines of the presence, or as envoys. His go- 
vernors also receive the same honours when they admi- 
nister justice, because they are his representatives. In- 
deed such respect is paid to the emperor, that the princes 
of the blood, and all the grandees of the court, not only 
kneel before him, but before his chair, his throne, his 
Clothes, and every thing made for his particular use. 

Persons of the highest rank are not allowed to ride on 
horseback, or to pass in a chaise before the gates of his 
palace, but are obliged to alight at a place appointed for 
that purpose. If the emperor falls dangerously ill, it 
creates a general alarm ; the mandarines assemble in one 
of the courts of the palace, and pass whole days and 
nights, without regard to the inclemency of the air or 



China. 191 

the rigour of the season, imploring heaven on their 
bended knees to restore his health. 

Yellow is the imperial colour, and none are allowed 
to wear it but the emperor and those who attend his per- 
son. His vest is adorned with dragons that have five 
claws : this is his coat of arms, which none else must 
bear. He has the disposal of the lives and fortunes of 
his subjects, nor can any criminal suffer death till he 
has confirmed the sentence. 

In order to preserve their reputation, the emperors 
are continually enquiring into the state of the empire, 
affecting a kind of paternal care for their people ; parti- 
cularly when any of the provinces are afflicted with ca- 
lamities, the emperor shuts himself up in his palace, ab- 
stains from all pleasures* and publishes decrees to ease 
such provinces of their usual taxes. 

The revenues of the emperor are amazingly great ; 
but it is not easy to give an exact account of them, be- 
cause the annual tribute is paid partly in money and 
partly in commodities; it particularly arises from the 
produce of the lands, as rice, wheat, and millet ; from 
salt, silks, stuffs, linen, cotton, with innumerable other 
articles. All these, together with the customs and for- 
feited estates, annually amount to above twenty-one 
millions sterling. Osbeck says, that a poll-tax is levied 
on each person in China from the age of twenty to that 
of sixty, and he makes the number from whom it is col- 
lected to amount to fifty-eight millions. 

The troops constantly kept in pay amount to about 
seven hundred thousand soldiers ; these are stationed 
near the great wall, and other fortified places ,- a part of 
these also compose the emperor's guards, and those of 
the mandarines, whom they escort on their journies, 
and at night keep watch about their barks or at their 
inns. Near five hundred and sixty-five thousand horses 
are retained to remount the cavalry, and for the use of 
the posts and couriers who convey the king's orders, 
and those of the tribunals, into the provinces. 

The Abbe Grosier speaks very particularly concern- 
ing the military state of this empire. No troops he says 



192 History of all Nations. 

are better paid, better clothed, or better armed : but 
they have less dicipline than the European troops, and 
are totally deficient in courage. According to Haynal, 
the art of war is one of the arts in which the Chinese 
have made the least progress. " It is natural to imagine," 
continues that writer, " that a nation, whose whole con- 
duct is influenced by ceremonies, precepts and customs, 
either of private or public institution, should of course 
be pliant, moderate, and inclined to tranquility and 
peace. The spirit of humanity which they imbibe in their 
tender years, makes them look with abhorrence on those 
sanguinaryscenes of rapine and massacre, that are so fami- 
liar to nations where the hero and the warrior are formed. 
When a nation possesses the art of subduing its con- 
querors by its manners, it has no occasion to overcome 
its enemies by force of arms." Hist. poL liv. I. Gro- 
sier observes, that the military profession is here held 
in little estimation. The foot soldier is armed with 
a pike and a sabre : some have firelocks, and others a 
bow and arrow. The arms of the cavalry consist of an 
helmet, a breast-plate, a lance, and a large sabre. — 
The pay of a foot soldier is five sous of fine silver, or 
twopence English, and a measure of rice a day. The 
hcrsemen have ten sous and two measures of beans, 
beside arrears, which are paid every two months. — 
The best soldiers of the empire are drawn from the three 
northern provinces. If the use of artillery was ever 
known in ancient times, it was totally lost at the com- 
mencement of the last century. Grosicr says, there 
are still to be seen at Nanking three or four mortars, 
bat not a single Chinese could be found to use them. — 
In the year 1621 the city of Macao presented three pie- 
ces of cannon to the emperor, but it was necessary to 
send three men to manage them. Afterwards Father 
Adam Schaal, a Jesuit missionary, first instructed the 
Chinese in the management of cannon ; another Jesuit 
named Verbiest, superintended, by order of the empe- 
ror, a foundery, from which they were supplied with 
upward of three hundred pieces of artillery. The same 
father likewise instructed tjtem in the art of fortification, 



China. 193 

and introduced among the Chinese the modern Euro- 
pean rules of architecture. — Description general de la 
Chine par PAbbe Grosier. 

Here are two sovereign councils ; one called the ex- 
traordinary council, which is composed of princes of 
the blood ; the other, called the council in ordinary, 
has, besides the princes, several ministers of state named 
colaos, who examine all state affairs, and make their 
report to the emperor, who gives directions accord- 
ingly. 

The pomp with which he goes to make his offerings in 
the temple of Tien is very extraordinary. The proces- 
sion begins with twenty-four drums, ranked in two files, 
and twenty-four trumpets, formed of a wood greatly es- 
teemed by the Chinese. After them follow twenty-four 
men in a line, armed with red staves, seven or eight feet 
long, varnished and adorned with gilt foliages. Next to 
these are a hundred soldiers carrying halberts, the iron 
part of which terminates in a crescent. Then follow an 
hundred men with red maces ornamented with flowers, 
and gilt at the end. Then advance four hundred very 
fine lanterns ; four hundred flambeaux, consisting of 
wood which burns a long time, and yields a great light ; 
two hundred men with spears, some adorned with tufts 
of silk of various colours, others with the tails of foxes, 
leopards, and other animals; twenty four banners, on 
which are painted the signs of the zodiac, which the 
Chinese divide into twelve parts ; fifty-six other ban- 
ners, whereon are represented the fifty-six constella- 
lations, to which the Chinese reduce all the stars ; two 
hundred fans, on which are painted various figures of 
dragons, birds, and other animals ; these are supported 
by long gilt sticks : twenty-four umbrellas richly adorn- 
ed, and a beaufet supported by the officers of the kitchen, 
and furnished with gold utensils, such as ewers, basons, 
Sec. Then appears the emperor on horseback, richly 
dressed, and on each side is held a magnificent umbrella, 
large enough to shade both him and his horse : he is sur- 
rounded with ten led horses ; these are always white, 
with the saddles and bridles enriched with gold and 

2 A, 



194 History of all Nations. 

jewels ; and also by a hundred spearmen, and pages of 
the bed-chamber. 

After them the princes of the blood, the reguloes, the 
chief mandarines, and the lords of the court, appear in 
the same order, and in their proper habits, together 
with five hundred young gentlemen belonging to the 
palace, richly clad, followed by a thousand footmen in 
red gowns bordered with flowers, and stars of gold and 
silver ; immediately after thirty-six men carry an open 
chair, followed by another that is much larger and close, 
supported by a hundred and twenty chairmen; then 
appear four large waggons, two of which are drawn by 
elephants, and two by horses covered with embroidered 
housings : every chariot and chair is followed by a com- 
pany of fifty men to guard it. This procession is closed 
by two thousand mandarines of letters, and two thousand 
mandarines of arms, or oflicers of war, richly dressed in 
their proper habits. The same order is always inva- 
riably observed. 

Nobility. — None but those who belong to the 
reigning family have any title of distinction ; these pos- 
sess the rank of princes, in whose favour five honorary 
degrees of nobility are established, much like those of 
dukes, marquisses, earls, viscounts, and barons, in Eu- 
rope. These titles are granted to the children of the 
emperor, and those to whom he gives his daughters in 
marriage, who have revenues assigned them equal to 
their dignity, but not the least power. When the 
founder of the present Tartarian family was settled on 
the throne, he conferred on his brothers, who were nu- 
merous, and had contributed by their valour to the con- 
quest of many countries, several titles of honour, to 
which the Europeans have given the appellation of re- 
guloes, or princes of the first, second, and third rank, 
and it was then determined, that from among the chil- 
dren of every regulo, one should be chosen to succeed his 
father in the same dignity. 

But the family esteemed the most noble in China, is 
that of the celebrated Confucius, of whom we shall 
give some account in treating of the religion of the Chi- 



China* 195 

nese. The honours conferred on that great man have 
been continued in a direct line for more than two thou- 
sand years in the person and descendants of one of his 
nephews, who is called, " The nephew of the Great or 
Wise Man." 

The mandarines, who are the governors of provinces 
and cities, and, according to their different ranks, enjoy 
all the posts under the government, are chosen for their 
proficiency in learning. But the children even of those 
who enjoy the highest offices under the emperor, are in 
danger of sinking to the rank of the vulgar, and are often 
obliged to follow the meanest professions. The son of 
a mandarine may succeed to his father's wealth, but not 
to his dignity or reputation : he must rise by the same 
steps as those by which his father rose ; and by applying 
himself to study, be, like him, advanced on account of 
his learning. 

There are three ways of punishing with death in Chi- 
na, of which strangling is looked upon as most honora- 
ble : this is,, frequently done by a bow-string. In some 
places they put a cord of seven or eight feet long, with a 
running knot round the criminal's neck. Two servants 
belonging to the tribunal draw it hard at each end, then 
loose it a moment, and drawing it again the second time, 
dispatch the criminal. 

Another kind of punishment is extremely cruel ; this 
is inflicted on rebels and traitors, on a son who strikes 
his father, and on merciless robbers. It is called " cut- 
ting in ten thousand pieces." The executioner fastens 
the criminal to a post, then flaying the skin off his head, 
pulls it over his eyes, and afterwards mangles him by 
cutting pieces from all parts of his body ; and when he 
is weary of this barbarous exercise, he delivers him to 
the cruelty of the populace. 

The other punishment is beheading ; which is inflict- 
ed for crimes of great enormity, as murder, and is look- 
ed upon as very shameful, because the head, which is 
the principal part of man, is seperated from the body ; 
and because in dying they do not preserve the human 
form as entire as it was when they received it from their 



196 History of all Nations. 

parents. The party condemned to suffer this punish- 
ment, is not, on the day of execution, exposed on a 
scaffold, but being made to kneel in some public place, 
with his hands tied behind him, a person holds him so 
fast that he cannot move, while the executioner coming 
behind, takes off his head at one stroke, and at the same 
time lays him on his back with such dexterity, that not 
a drop of blood falls on his clothes, which on that occa- 
sion are generally better than ordinary : for his relations 
and friends, though ashamed to own him in those unhap- 
py circumstances, usually send him new clothes, and 
cause provisions and driuk to be offered him by the 
way. 

The executioner is commonly a soldier; and his 
office is so far from being scandalous, that at Pekin he 
accompanies the criminal girt with a sash of yellow silk, 
and his cutlass is wrapped in silk of the same colour, to 
shew that he is vested with the emperor's authority. 

Those who suffer death by decapitation are also sen- 
tenced to be deprived of common burial, which in Chi- 
na is considered as dreadfully infamous ; the execution- 
er therefore, after having stripped the body, throws it into 
the next ditch. 

If the criminal happens to have wealthy relations who 
regard him, they frequently buy the body at a great 
price from the executioner, and sew r on the head again 
with abundance of lamentations. 

R e l i g i o n. — The religion of China is two-fold. One 
as ancient as the empire itself, and probably introduced 
by its founders : the other of much later date, and deri- 
ved from India, not long after the birth of Christ. The 
latter has idols, temples, sacrifices, priests, monks, festi- 
vals, and many external rites and ceremonies ; the for- 
mer is exempt from all these, and is, perhaps, as artless 
and simple as any religion that was ever taught in the 
world. It prescribes reverence to an invisible Being, 
residing in the visible heaven, and distributing thence 
happiness and misery among mankind ; but it enjoins 
no particular worship to him : so that temples, priests, 
assemblies, sacrifices, and rites, are things entirely for- 



China. 197 

eign to it. In this religion there is no term for God, 
and in an imperial edict, published in the year 1710, it 
is said, " It is not to the visible and material heaven that 
we offer our adoration, but to the Lord of heaven." — 
The emperor alone, at certain times, offers a sacrifice to 
this powerful Being, in the name of his people. The 
emperor, who is sole pontiff, is likewise the only judge 
in religious matters. 

The latter religion, of that idolatry which was intro- 
duced by jPo, or Foe, a celebrated Indian impostor, has 
many adherents among the lower ranks of people, but is 
only tolerated in the state. The wise men, and those of 
distinction, profess the old morality, which is the nation- 
al religion, protected by the laws of the empire, and 
preached by the emperor himself. 

This ancient religion maintained, that, as well for the 
preservation of order as -to maintain purity of manners, 
those who command should imitate the conduct of Tien, 
in treating their inferiors as their children ; and those 
who obey ought to consider their superiors as their fa- 
thers. 

The religion of China is comprehended in some an- 
cient and valuable books, which they call " the Five 
Volumes;" it appears from one of these ancient books, 
that this Tien, the object of public worship, is the prin- 
cipal of all things, the father of the people, independent, 
almighty, omniscient ; to whom the secrets of the heart 
are fully known, and who watches over the conduct of 
the universe. 

Fohi, who was one of the heads of the colony which 
came to settle in this part of the east, and is acknowledg- 
ed to be the founder of the Chinese monarchy, gave pub- 
lic marks of his profound veneration for the Supreme 
Being. Chinnong, Fohi's successor, added to these sac- 
rifices two offerings at the equinoxes. 

His successors, in general, followed his example; 
and it is asserted by the Chinese writers, that for the 
space of two thousand years the nation acknowledged, 
reverenced, and honoured with sacrifices the Supreme 
Being and Sovereign Lord of the universe. 



198 History of all Nations. 

At length the troubles which arose in the empire, the 
civil wars which distracted it, and the corruption of man- 
n< which became almost universal, had very nearly 
su .'pressed the ancient doctrine, when Confucius arose 
aid revived it. 

This great philosopher made a collection of the most 
excellent maxims of the ancients, which he adhered to 
himself, and taught to the people. He preached up a 
severe morality, and endeavoured to prevail upon men 
to contemn riches and wordly pleasures, and to esteem 
temperance, justice, and other virtues: he strove to 
inspire them with such magnanimity as to be proof 
against the frowns of princes, and with a sincerity inca- 
pable of the least disguise. The thing most to be ad- 
mired is, that he preached more by his example than by 
his words, whence he reaped considerable fruits from 
his labours; kings were governed by his counsels, and 
the people reverenced him as a saint. Yet he frequent- 
ly met with reverses of fortune, which obliged him to 
travel from province to province, and he was often re- 
duced to such extremities, as to be in danger of perish- 
ing by hunger. 

He sent six hundred of his disciples into different pla- 
ces of the empire to reform the manners of the people, 
and used frequently to say, " It is in the West where the 
true saint is found." This sentence was so imprinted 
in the minds of the learned, that sixty -four years after 
the birth of Christ, the emperor Ming-ti sent ambas- 
sadors into the West, with strict orders to continue 
their journey till they should meet this saint. Other 
authors assert, that he was induced to send these am- 
bassadors, from a dream which reminded him of this 
sentence of Confucius. 

This philosopher seems to have carried the religion 
of nature as far as unassisted reason could possibly reach. 
After his death he was revered by the greatest part of 
the nation as an eminent saint, as a messenger inspired 
and sent by heaven to instruct mankind, and almost as 
a god; but interpreters soon arose, who explained away 
the simplicity and purity of his doctrine, and, by intrp- 



China. 199 

ducing idle distinctions and superstitious observances, 
by perverting and wresting his meaning as well as by- 
giving false interpretations of the ancient books, they 
destroyed the worship due to the Supreme Being, and 
formed a system of religion and philosophy equally im- 
pious and absurd. This is now the religion of the learn- 
edj who, while they pay homage to the memory of 
Confucius, are far from following his precepts or imita- 
ting the innocence and sanctity of his life. Yet though 
the purity of doctrine is not retained, the memory of 
their great teacher is still held in the highest reverence 
by the Chinese, and the emperors have even ordered 
that the literati should annually celebrate a festival to his 
honour. 

The Chinese in their persons are far from being such 
grotesque figures as they represent themselves in their 
paintings ; and we may form a pretty distinct idea of 
them in general, by considering what they esteem beau- 
ty. This they imagine consists in having a large fore- 
head, small eyes, a short nose, a broad face, a mouth 
of a moderate size, large ears, and black hair; together 
with a certain symmetry and proportion between all the 
parts. As their garments are wide, and do not fit so 
close to the body as those of the Europeans, they have 
formed no idea of the beauty resulting from a genteel 
and easy shape. On the contrary, they esteem a man 
well made when he is fat, bulky, and handsomely fills 
his chair. Their complexion, in the southern parts of 
China, where the weather is excessively hot, is of an 
olive colour; but, in the northern provinces, they are 
naturally as fair as the Europeans, and, in common, 
their faces are not disagreeable : the men of learning, 
and young people, particularly, not being exposed to 
the sun, have a fine skin and a beautiful complexion. — 
Such as are professedly men of letters, especially if they 
are well descended, affect to let the nails of their fingers 
grow an inch long or more, from the vanity of shew- 
ing that they are not employed in manual labour; a cus- 
tom which prevails in Otaheite, among the erie$ r or 
men of rank. 



200 History of all A at ions. 

As for the women, they are commonly of the middle 
size ; their noses are short, their eyes little, their mouths 
well made, and with rosy lips ; their ears are long, their 
hair black, and their complexion florid ; their features 
are regular, and their countenances full of vivacity. — 
The smallness of their feet is, in the opinion of the 
Chinese, none of the least charms of that sex : there- 
fore, when a female infant is born, the nurses are very 
careful in binding her feet extremely hard, to prevent 
their growing ; and they are ever after subjected to this 
constraint ; but whatever pain a child suffers from this 
violence offered to nature, it appears that its health is not 
materially affected by it ; and such is the force of cus- 
tom, that the Chinese women, when adult, are so far 
from complaining of it, that they pride themselves in 
this whimsical perversion of nature, and always affect to 
shew their feet as they walk, or rather hobble along with 
tottering and unsteady steps. 

The men shave their heads, leaving only one lock of 
hair growing on the crown. Osbeck says, " If a Chi- 
nese is asked what sum of money would induce him to 
part with his tuft of hair? he replies by asking the in- 
quirer, what he would take for his head?" 

It is generally agreed that the silk- worm was first bred, 
and its curious web first manufactured, in China, and 
for a great many centuries formed a most lucrative 
branch of trade ; no other part of the world haying any 
knowledge of that insect, or of its wonderful properties. 
The ancients in all ages were supplied with ihat cosdy 
article of luxury, silk, from India, whither it was 
brought from China. It was about the middle of the 
sixth century, in the reign of Justinian, that two Persian 
monks, who had been employed as missionaries in some 
of the Christian churches, which were established, as we 
are informed, by Cosmas, in different parts of India, 
had penetrated into the country of the Seres, or China. 
There they observed the labours of the silk -worm, and 
became acquainted with the whole progress of working 
up its productions in such a variety of elegant fabrics. 
The prospect of gain, or perhaps an indignant zeal, 



China. 201 

excited by seeing this lucrative branch of commerce en- 
grossed by unbelievers, prompted them to repair to 
Constantinople ; there they explained to the emperor the 
origin of silk, as well as the various modes of preparing 
and manufacturing it : mysteries until then unknown, 
or very imperfectly understood in Europe. Encouraged 
by his liberal promises, they undertook to bring to the 
capital a sufficient number of those wonderful insects, to 
whose labour man is so much indebted. This they ac- 
complished by conveying the eggs of the silk- worm in a 
hollow cane ; which were hatched by the heat of a dung- 
hill ; the insects, so procured, were fed with the leaves 
of the wild mulberry-tree; and they multiplied and 
worked in the same manner as in those climates where 
they first became objects of human attention and culture. 
Vast numbers of these insects were soon reared in dif- 
ferent parts of Greece, particularly in the Peloponesus. 
Sicily afterwards undertook to breed silk-worms with 
equal success, and was imitated, from time to time, by 
several towns in Italy. In all these places extensive 
manufactures were established, and carried on with silk 
raised in the country. The demand for silk from the 
East diminished of course. The subjects of the Greek 
emperors were no longer obliged to have recourse to 
the Persians for a supply of it, and a considerable change 
took place in the nature of the commercial intercourse 
between Europe and India. — Dr. Robertson's Historical 
Disquisition concerning ancient India, page 88. 

It was ten centuries after the Chinese had lost their 
monopoly of silk, that tea became adopted into general 
use in European countries. The demand for this favou- 
rite leaf has continually increased since its first intro- 
duction, which is little more than a century ago. In 
the year 1785, when the British ministry introduced re- 
gulations respecting the duties on this important article, 
it was stated in the house of commons, that the whole 
quantity of tea imported into Europe from China, was 
about nineteen millions of pounds weight, of which it 
was conjectured that twelve millions were consumed in 
Great Britain and its dependencies. — Payne. 

2 b 



202 History of all Nations. 

Two splendid embassies from England and Holland 
have been undertaken within these few years past ; 
that of lord Macartney, in 1793, and that of Mr. Tit- 
sing, in 1795. A full account of the former was pre- 
sented to the public by sir George Staunton, and of the 
latter by N. Van Braam, both of them acting secreta- 
ries to their respective embassies. To these works we 
must necessarily refer the inquisitive reader for full 
and accurate accounts of the present condition of this 
populous, extensive, and flourishing empire. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 
PRUSSIA. 

Original Inhabitants. — JSame. — Subdued by the Teuto- 
nic Knights. — Albert the first Duke. — Erected into a 
Kingdom. 

Prussia, which has lately made so great a figure in 
the affairs of Europe, is one of the most recent and limited 
monarchies on the continent. It was originally inhabited 
by a powerful race of people, called the Venedi, who 
extended themselves all along the south side of the Bal- 
tic. On the Venedi removing to the more western prov- 
inces, the Borussi, who had migrated from the foot of 
the Riphgen mountains, possessed themselves of this 
country, which they called Borussia, now corrupted to 
Prussia. 

It was divided into twelve provinces by Venedus, 
one of the Borussian princes, who is recorded to have 
given them to his twelve sons. 

They made a noble stand against the kings of Poland, 
a brother of one of whom (Boleslaus IV.) was defeated 
and slain by them in battle, A. D. 1166. This bold 
and warlike nation continued independent, and pagans, 
till conquered by the knights of the Teutonic order, A. 
D. 1227, who, returning to Europe after the expulsion 



Prussia. 2Q3 

of the Christians from the Holy Land by Saladin, ob- 
tained grants of settlements in Italy, Germany, Hunga- 
ry, &c. 

A long series of wars ensued, in which the original 
inhabitants of Prussia were almost extirpated by these 
religious and military knights- The remainder, op- 
pressed beyond all human tolerance by their conquerors, 
at last revolted, and implored the aid of Casimir IV. 
king of Poland, A. D. 1454, who invaded Prussia; and, 
after a bloody war of twelve years duration, a peace 
was concluded, in which it was agreed that the part cal- 
led Polish Prussia should continue under the protection 
of Poland, and that the Teutonic knights should pos- 
sess the other parts, but to acknowledge themselves vas- 
sals to the sovereign of Poland. The knights, disdain- 
ing the vassalage, made frequent attempts to shake it off, 
till at last Albert, margrave of Brandenburgh, grand- 
master of the order, embracing the doctrines of Luther, 
and willing to aggrandise himself at the expence of the 
knights, agreed to share Prussia with his uncle, Sigis- 
mund I. king of Poland, on condition of paying hom- 
age for the protection of that crown. The proposal 
was accepted. Albert took the title of Duke, A. D. 
1525, in his new territory; hence the present kingdom 
is called Ducal Prussia, and that part in possession of 
Poland, and on the western side of the Vistula, Regal 
Prussia. * Thus ended the sovereignty of the Teuton- 
ic order in Prussia, after it had subsisted three centu- 
ries. 

Brandenburg remained long in subjection to Poland; 
and the investiture of Prussia was granted by the Polish 
kings to each succeeding margrave. 

Frederic- William, elector of Brandenburg, surnamed 
the Great, had Ducal Prussia confirmed to him and his 
heirs, being freed from vassalage (A. D. 1657) by Casi- 
mir, king of Poland ; and he and his descendants were 



Mem. de Brandenburg, torn. i. 



204 History of all ^Nations. 

■ 

declared independent and sovereign lords of this part of 
Prussia. 

With these titles, and as grand-masters of the Teuto- 
nics, they continued till A. D. 1701, when 

Frederic, son of Frederic- William the Great, raised 
the duchy of Prussia to a kingdom , and on Jan. 18, 
1701, in a solemn assembly of the states of the empire, 
placed the crown, with his own hands, upon his head 
and that of his consort ; soon after which he was ac- 
knowledged as king of Prussia by all the other Chris- 
tian powers. In memory of this event, he instituted 
the order of the Black Eagle. 

His son, Frederic- William, succeeded to the crown 
A. D. 1713 ;- — a wise and political prince, who, by ri- 
gid economy, amassed a prodigious treasure, though he 
maintained for his own security an army of 60,000 men, 
which he prudently left his son to employ. A number 
of useful and magnificent foundations rendered his reign 
glorious. — u If we may be said to owe the shade of the 
" oak," observes the royal historian, " to the acorn 
" from which it sprung ; in like manner we may dis- 
" cern, in the sagacious conduct of Frederic- William, 
'■' the source of the future greatness of his succes- 
tc sor .»* 

This prince died A. D. 1740, when Frederic III. as- 
cended the throne, who will justly be celebrated by fu- 
ture historians, as one of the first military, political, and 
literary characters that ever graced a throne. He dying 
in 1786, was succeeded by his son 

Frederic IV. The conduct of this monarch convinc- 
ed Europe that the aggrandisement of his kingdom was 
of more importance, in his estimation, than to keep his 
word, or maintain the rights of those with whom he was 
in alliance. He helped to plunder Poland, which he 
Wlis bound to protect ; and broke his treaty with Eng- 
land and Germany against France, as soon as he found 



* Mem,, tie Brandenburg^, torn. ii. 



France. * 205 

it convenient. He, November 16, 1797, was succeeded 
by his son 

Frederick V. the present emperor, whose tempori- 
sing policy had nearly lost him his kingdom ; being de- 
featedatthe decisive battle of Jena, by the emperor of the 
French, who shortly after took Berlin, his capital. — 
[See more of Prussia in the Appendix. ] 

Religion. — The Prussians are in general Luthe- 
rans ; but as a great number of the colonists are Calvin- 
ists, they have also their churches, not only in the cities 
and towns, but in some villages they have a particular 
church appropriate to their use ; and in some places 
they perform divine service in the Lutheran churches. 
The Roman catholics have a few churches in this king- 
dom. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 
INTRODUCTION TO FRANCE. 

This country, more than any which has yet come un- 
der our notice, has a particular claim to attention. In 
the course of the last eighteen years, it has undergone 
more astonishing revolutions than any other on the face 
of the globe. Situated in the heart of Europe, boasting 
a population of between thirty and forty millions, inde- 
pendent of the petty sovereignties which it has either 
created or has brought within its influence ; flushed 
with conquest, and commanded by an ambitious chief, 
who places at an immense distance perhaps all the heroes 
of ancient and modern history, and aspires (as is generally 
believed) to universal domination. We have devoted to 
this article as great a proportion of our work as the im- 
portance of the subject and our circumscribed limits 
would allow us. 



206 History of all Nations. 

TRANCE. 

Under the Franks y or Merovingian Race. — Carlovingian 
Race. — Charlemagne. — Invasion of the J\ or mans. — 
Capetian Race. — Conquest of France by the Fnglish. 

This extensive country was, in the early ages, known 
under the name of Gaul, and received a colony of Belgas 
from Germany about 200 years before Christ It was 
afterwards shared by the Romans, Visigoths, and the 
Burgundians, when Clovis, king of the Franks, a tribe 
of Germans who inhabited the other side of the Rhine, 
defeated the Roman general, Syagrius, and by obtaining 
a complete victory over the Visigoths, in which their 
king Alaric was slain, fully established the French mo- 
narchy in Gaul. 

He was converted by his queen Clotilda, and the 
Franks under his reign embraced Christianity. 

On the death of Clovis, A. D. 511, his kingdom was 
divided among his sons, and on that account involved in 
civil wars. 

A series of weak sovereigns succeeded, under whom 
the maires du palais, the mayors of the palace, a kind of 
viceroys, amid the disorders of civil war and anarchy, 
extended their authority over both king and nobles, and, 
possessed of the power of sovereigns, assumed at length 
the title. 

Pepin le Bref was the first maire du palais who made 
his way to the throne, and assumed the sovereignty in 
name as well as in reality, excluding for ever the de- 
scendants of Clovis, or the Merovingian race,* from 
the crown of France, after they had possessed it 270 
years. 



* So called, from Merovsus, grandfather of Clovis. 



France, 207 

Pepin, the founder of the Carlovingian race of kings, 
was succeeded by his two sons, Charles surnamed 
Charlemagne, and Carloman. On the death of his 
brother, A. D. 771, Charles became sole monarch of 
France, and, during a reign of forty-five years, subdu- 
ed to his dominion the greatest part of Europe. The 
beautiful domestic character, the heroic enterprises and 
exploits, the victories and conquests of this prince, 
have been greatly celebated in history; but the most 
important transactions of his reign are those which re- 
gard Italy. 

He subdued all Lombardy, entered Rome in tri- 
umph, and was crowned emperor of the Romans on 
Christmas- eve, A. D. 800. 

Charlemagne died in the 72d year of his age, A. D. 
814. 

Lewis (le Debonair) was his only lawful son who sur- 
vived him ; on whose death a partition of this extensive 
empire took place, between his three sons. Charles 
surnamed the Bald, obtained the kingdom of France; Ger- 
many, finally separated from the empire of the Franks, 
was the share of another son, Lewis of Bavaria; and 
Italy fell to Lotharius, with the title of emperor. 

The concluding period of the history of the degene- 
rate posterity of Charlemagne, is uninteresting and ob- 
scure. The most memorable event that has been record- 
ed is the incursions of the Normans, or rather the Nor- 
wegians. — At the end of the eighth century, these fierce 
people, who collectively bore the name of Normans, 
migrating from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, ven- 
tured in light barks, hollowed out of large trunks of 
trees, to brave the ocean. — They penetrated into Eng- 
land, Scotland, the Orkney and Shetland Islands, the 
Western Isles, and even to Ireland; all which places 
they made the subjects of their depredations, marking 
their rout by desolation and slaughter. — The booty and 
wealth which those ravagers carried home, excited oth- 
ers among them to advance along the coast of Britain 
to France, where they first landed in 820. Under one 
of their most illustrious leaders, Rollo, they sailed up 



208 History of all JSfations. 

the Seine ; and, taking the city of Rouen, soon became 
so formidable, that Charles the Simple offered Rollo his 
daughter in marriage, and ceded to him Normandy, 
Bretagne, and Neustria. 

Rollo had a son called William, who succeeded him 
in the ducal throne of Normandy, and from whom the 
Norman kings of England descended. 

Hugh Capet, the most powerful nobleman in France, 
and the founder of the third race of French kings, as- 
cended the throne in the conclusion of the 10th century. 
The weakness and domestic misery of the kingdom, 
during this and several succeeding reigns, were too 
shocking to be described. 

In the reign of Philip I. which began A. D. 1060, 
the phrenzy of crusading broke out. — An enthusiastic 
priest, known by the name of Peter the Hermit, having 
in his pilgrimage to Jerusalem been eye-witness to the 
injuries and oppressions under which the Christians in 
the east, as well as the pilgrims, groaned ; his own 
heated imagination, the persuasion of the patriarch of 
Jerusalem, and the approbation of pope Urban, anima- 
ted him to run from province to province, through ail 
the countries of Europe, with a crucifix in his hands, and 
tears in his eyes, stirring up the superstitious people to 
wreak their vengeance on the enemies of Christianity , and 
to rescue the Holy Land from the possession of the Infi- 
dels. Every individual, even to the children, was fill- 
ed with holy rage, and people of all ranks flew to arms 
with the utmost ardor. Thousands of them perished 
miserable ; and, having undergone many hardships, the 
Christians got possession of a wild waste country,, with- 
out either cultivation or inhabitants, in which, however, 
lay Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and many other 
places of sacred fame. 

The crusades chose Godfrey of Bouillon king of Je- 
rusalem, and settled him in their new conquests. 

Philip was succeeded in the year 1108 by his son 
Lewis, who is generally called by the old historians Lew- 
is the Gross, from his great size, and who was the 
sixth Lewis that sat on the throne of France. Soon. 



France. 209 

after his coronation, he engaged in a war against Henry 
I. of England, a powerful vassal, whom it was his inter- 
est to humble. The war was carried on with a variety 
of fortunes during the greater part of this reign, but 
without producing any remarkable event. The history 
of this period affords little instruction or entertainment. 

Philip II. the successor of Lewis, and Richard I. of 
England, undertook a joint expedition to the Holy Land. 
The king of France returned to Europe in disgust ; and 
the king of England, being abandoned by his associ- 
ates, was obliged to relinquish his enterprise, after he 
had defeated the infidel emperor, Saladin, within sight 
of Jerus-tlem ; and, on his return, was made prisoner by 
the duke of Austria, and confined in a dungeon in Ger- 
many, from whence he purchased his release by a very 
large ransom. 

The short reign of Lewis VIII. who succeeded his 
father Philip in the year 1226, was chiefly sr ent in cru- 
sades against the Albigenses, in the prosecution of which 
he died. 

He was succeeded by his son Lewis IX. commonly 
called St. Lewis, who engaged in a new crusade, in 
which himself, with his nobility, were taken prisoners, 
and ransomed at an immense expence. He afterwards 
led a new army against the infidels of Africa, where he 
was seized with an epidemic distemper, and died. His 
sort and successor, Philip III. kept the field against the 
Moors, and saved the remains of the French army, 
which procured him the name of the Hardy. 

The reign of Philip IV. surnamed the Fair, the son 
and successor of Philip the Hardy, is distinguished by 
the institution of the supreme tribunals, called parlia- 
ments, and the suppression and extirpation of the 
Knights Templars, who were originally an order of 
monks that settled near the temple of Jerusalem when it 
was first taken by the champions, of. the cross. In a 
short time they acquired from the piety of the faithful, 
ample possessions in every Ch istian country, but more 
especially in France. The great riches of those knights 
had relaxed the severity of their discipline. Being all 

2c 



210 > History of all Nations.. 

men of birth, they at last scorned the ignoble occupa- 
tions of a monastic life, and passed their time wholly in 
the fashionable amusements of hunting, gallantry, and' 
the pleasures of the table. 

By these means the Templars lost that popularity 
which first raised them to honor and distinction ; and 
Philip, in concert with Pope Clement V. judged them 
unprofitable to the church, and dangerous to the state. 

The race of Capetine kings ended with Charles IV. 
surnamed the Fair, who left only one daughter. The 
states of the kingdom by a solemn decree declared all 
females incapable of succeeding to the crown ; and 
Philip de Valois, the grandson of a brother of Philip 
IV. the next male heir, in consequence of that decree, 
was unanimously raised to the throne A. D. 1328. 

Edward III. of England, claimed the French crown, 
as grandson of a daughter of Philip. Hostiilties com- 
menced. The English triumphed over the French 
at Cressy, A. D. 1346, and after a long siege took Ca- 
lais ; but in 1360, a peace was made, by which the 
king of France granted Guienne, Poictou, Santoigne^ 
and several other territories in the neighbourhood of 
Calais, to. Edward, in compensation for Normandy, 
which he relinquished. About the end or the fourteenth 
century, the French recovered all that the English pos- 
sessed in France, except Calais. 

In the beginning of the fifteenth century, a civil war 
raged with great violence between the Burgundians and 
Armagnes. Henry V. king of England, resolving to 
take advantage of those disorders, invaded France. Inu 
mediately on his landing, A. D. 1415, he invested Har- 
fieur, which was taken by storm, after a six weeks siege, 
and the garrison put to the sword. The famous battle 
of Agincourt followed, in which Henry obtained a glo- 
rious victory. The loss of the French wzs incredible. 
Seven princes were slain. Five princes were taken pri- 
soners, together with fourteen thousand persons of dif- 
ferent ranks ; and about ten thousand Frenchmen were 
left dead on the field of battle. 



France. ill 

Henry returned to England, but landed about two 
years after in Normandy ; and in 1420 concluded a 
treaty, by which the succession to the throne of France 
was secured to the king of England ; and in consequence 
of this treaty, his son, Henry VI. was crowned king of 
France at Paris. 

Charles VII. who had succeeded his father, Charles 
VI. in the year 1422, by slow degrees recovered pos- 
session of his kingdom. Joan of Arc, a pretended pro- 
phetess, raised the siege of Orleans, defeated the Eng- 
lish, but was taken prisoner, and burnt for sorcery. 
Charles, by a vigorous perseverance, expelled the Eng- 
lish from France. This monarch rendered his kingdom 
flourishing within itself, and formidable to its neigh- 
bours. 

Lewis XI. an insidious, artful, and tyrannical mo- 
narch, seized on Burgundy, A. D. 1477, and made that 
duchy an appendix of the crown of France. 

His successor, Charles VIII. conquered the kingdom 
of Naples, but was afterwards driven out of Italy, and 
stripped of all his conquests. He was the last prince 
of the first line of the house of Valois. On his death, 
in the year 1498, the duke of Orleans ascended the 
throne, under the tide of Lewis XII. whose humanity, 
generosity, and indulgence to his subjects, obtained him 
the appellation of Fattier of the People. 

Francis I. his son-in-law, was a prince of the greatest 
abilities, but with many defects. He undertook the 
conquest of Naples ; and for that purpose led a strong 
army into Italy, and besieged Pavia, where his army 
was routed, and himself taken prisoner by the impe- 
rialists, Feb. 24, 1525. After two years captivity, he 
obtained his enlargement on the most rigorous condi- 
tions. 

The severity of his successor, Henry II. drove the 
protestants into rebellion. The death of Henry II. and 
the accession of Francis II. at that time only thirteen 
years of age, was the sera of those civil commotions which 
harassed France for thirty years. The duke of Guise 
and his brother, inveterate enemies to the protestant 



212. . History of all Nations. 

religion, assumed the direction of public affairs. By 
their instigation, the king resolved on the extirpation of 
heretics. Animated with zeal, and inflamed with re- 
sentment, the protestants, or Hugonots, as they were 
stiled by way of reproach, resolved, by some bold ac- 
tion, to anticipate the schemes of their enemies. Hence 
the famous conspiracy of Amboise, where they intended 
to seize the king, and wrest the government out of the 
hands of the Guises, if not to dispatch tljem. Their 
design was discovered and disappointed. Soon after 
the young king was suddenly carried off, in the seven- 
teenth year of his age. 

Charles IX. was only ten years of age at his acces- 
sion. His mother* Catheri e of Medicls, was appointed 
his guardian, and invested with the administration of the 
realm. This prince's minority and reign exhibit a se- 
ries of treacheries, commotions, and assassinations. 
Five civil wars rent the kingdom to pieces, and France 
became a scene of tumult and bloodshed. 

The massacre of Paris commenced on the eve of St. 
Bartholomew, August 24, 1572, to which there is no- 
thing parallel in the history of mankind, either from the 
dissimulation that led to it, or the deliberate cruelty and 
barbarity with which it was perpetrated. Seventy thou- 
sand protestants were murdered.* 

Though the author of so many atrocious crimes, 
Charles IX. was only twenty-four years old, when he 
was removed by a violent disorder, and was succeeded 
in the throne of France by his brother, the duke of An- 
jou, under the title of Henry III. 

This was a weak and debauched prince. He devoted 
himself to his pleasures, and entrusted the entire direc- 
tion of public affairs to his mother. The disturbance 
between protestants and catholics still continued. Henry 
being suspected of favouring the former, was assassinated 
by a Dominican monk, August 1, A. D. 1589 ; and in 
him the line of Valois finished, which had governed 
France 161 years. 

* See Memoirs of the Duke de Sully. 



France. 213 

Qo the death of Henry III. the crown devolved to the 
house of Bourbon, in the person of Henry IV. king of 
Navarre, justly styled the Great. He was the best and 
most amiable of princes. Being a protestant, he was 
opposed in his pretensions to the crown by the catholic 
league. War was declared, in which Henry was suc- 
cessful, and triumphed over his enemies; and in order 
to please the majority of his subjects, he embraced the 
catholic religion — a step which the security of his crown, 
and the happiness of his people, made necessary. Edu- 
cated a protestant, he continued, after he became a cath- 
olic, to be the patron of the reformed. Generous and 
free in his own principles, he endeavoured to promote a 
spirit of love and charity among his subjects, to allay all 
bitterness and animosities, and to put an end to all per- 
secution. In the year 1598, he passed the famous edict 
of Nantz ; which "not only secured to the protestants the 
free exercise of their religion, but a share in the admin- 
istration of justice, and the privilege of being admitted 
to all employments of trust, profit and honour. Henry's 
grand schemes, in the conclusion of his reign, were to 
humble the House of Austria ; and to erect a balance of 
power; which, by dividing Europe into fifteen associated 
states, modelled as a great republic, or Christian com- 
monwealth, to expel the Turks, would establish perpe- 
tual peace. When all was in readiness to carry into 
execution these chimerical projects, an end was put 
to them by the hand of a desperate fanatic, named 
Ravilliac, who stabbed the king to the heart in his coach, 
in the streets of Paris, A. D. 1610. Thus perished 
Henry IV. the ablest and best prince that ever sat upon 
the throne of France. 

Under the minority of Lewis XIII. who succeeded 
his father at the age of nine years, and the weak regen- 
cy of his mother Mary de Medicis, France returned to 
that state of disorder and wretchedness, out of which it 
had been raised by the mild and equitable but vigorous 
government of Henry the Great.* Excited by his.min- 



Modern Europe. 



214 History of all Nations, 

ister, the famous cardinal Richlieu, who was an enthu^ 
siast in popery, the king besieged the protestants in the 
town of Rochelle, which was at last reduced by famine ; 
but by the loss of Rochelle, and other fortified places, 
which had been given the Hugonots for their security, 
their strength was much impaired. This whole reign 
was very turbulent, chiefly from the ambitious views of 
Richlieu, who had the sole direction of public affairs. — 
He introduced absolute government into France, and 
amazingly increased its power. Lewis XIII. died A. 
D. 1643. 

Lewis XIV. surnamed the Great, succeeded his fa- 
ther at the age of five years, under the regency of his 
mother, Ann of Austria, who chose cardinal Mazarine 
to be her minister. This was a long and brilliant reign. 
To divert or dissipate the factions which had involved 
the kingdom in civil and domestic quarrels, war was 
declared against Spain. The celebrated duke d'En- 
ghien was made general of the French armies, and so 
signal was the success of this young hero (afterwards 
honoured with the title of the Great Conde) that his 
victories brought about the memorable peace of West- 
phalia, signed atMunster, October 24, in the year 1648, 
between France, the emperor Ferdinand III. and Chris- 
tina queen of Sweden. Though this treaty established 
a calm in part of Europe, France was torn by civil dis- 
sentions. The cardinal Mazarine having been declared 
by the parliament "A disturber of the public peace, and 
an enemy to the kingdom," was dismissed by the king, 
on his coming to age, A. D. 1654 ; but was soon af- 
ter recalled and reinstated in the administration. The v 
war was carried on with vigour against Spain, till the 
treaty of the Pyrenees, A. D. 1659, when peace was 
procured to both the exhausted monarchies by the mar- 
riage of the French king with the infanta Maria Theresa. 
The death of Mazarine, in little more than a year after, 
left the reins of government to Lewis. The young sove- 
reign no w became the idol of France, and the admira- 
tion of Europe. His restless ambition, and insatiable 
thirst of glory, began to disturb the peace of the contU 



France. 215 

nent. He invaded the Spanish Netherlands, which he 
reduced, and immediately afterwards made himself mas- 
ter of Franche-Comte. A progress so rapid, filled Eu- 
rope with terror and consternation ; and a triple alliance 
was formed, A. D. 1668, by England, Holland, and 
Sweden, to check his arms. This measure was effect- 
ual ; the victorious Lewis thought it necessary to limit 
his ambition for the present ; and a treaty of peace was 
signed at Aix-la-Chapelle the same year. 

France increased in glory and national strength. Lew- 
is, still ambitiously determining on the conquest of 
Holland, entered that country in the beginning of the 
year 1672, and made himself master of no less than 
forty strong towns in about two months. The distress 
and consternation of the Dutch cannot be described. — 
As the last resource, the sluices were opened by the 
command of the magistrates of Amsterdam, and the 
neighbouring country was laid under water, without re- 
gard to the fertile fields, the numerous villas, and flour- 
ishing villages, which were overwhelmed by the inun- 
dation ! The war was continued to the peace of Nime- 
guen A. D. 1679. 

His unbounded ambition made him odious, or formi- 
dable, to every prince in Europe. The league of Augs- 
burg, in which the continental powers joined their forces 
for restraining this ambitious monarch, was formed in 
1689. — -A long and bloody war ensued. — To repel this 
storm, Lewis assembled two armies in Flanders ; he 
opposed a third to the Spaniards in Catalonia; and, in 
order to form a barrier on the side of Germany, he laid 
waste the Palatinate with fire and sword. This barba- 
rous policy can never be held in too much detestation. 
Men, women, and children, were driven, in a severe sea- 
son (February 1689) out of their habitations, to wander 
about in the fields, and to perish of hunger and cold ; 
while they beheld their houses reduced to ashes, their 
goods seized, and their possessions pillaged by the rapa- 
cious soldiers ! 

The Dutch were defeated with great slaughter by 
mareschal Luxemburg. Every where victorious, the 



216 History of all Nations. 

glory and greatness of Lewis were now at their height. 
But the united forces of England and Austria, under 
the command of Marlborough and prince Eugene, at 
last prevailed, and the subsequent part of his reign exhi- 
bits a mortifying reverse of fortune. France derived 
no solid advantage from her successes. Her finances 
were exhausted ; and tranquility was restored to Eu- 
rope by the peace of Ryswick A. D. 1697. From the 
year 1702, when Lewis endeavored to establish the Pre- 
tender's title to the crown of England, to 1711, his 
reign was a continued series of defeats and calamities. 
The peace of Utrecht, the terms of which Were glori- 
ous for England, took place A. D. 1713. He died 
Sept. 1, 1715. 

Discord seemed to have left the earth with the restless 
spirit of Lewis XIV. His great grandson ascended the 
throne at the age of five years, under the title of Lewis 
XV. The general tranquility of Europe met with lit- 
tle interruption from the peace of Utrecht till the year 
1734. At that period a flame broke out, in consequence 
of the death of Augustus II. king of Poland, and scon 
spread itself through every part of Europe. The 
French king supported the pretensions of Stanislaus, 
whose daughter he had married, in opposition to the 
elector of Saxony, whose cause was supported by the 
Russians and Au'strians. After a war of two years, a 
treaty was concluded, by which it was agreed that 
Stanislaus should renounce his claim to the throne of Po- 
land, and should be put in possession of Lorraine and 
Bar. — The death of the emperor, Charles VI. (1740) 
involved France in another war, from a desire of break- 
ing the power of the House of Austria, and exalting 
that of Bourbon on its ruins, by dismembering the do- 
minions of Maria Theresa, and placing on the imperial 
throne Charles Albert, elector of Bavaria, stipendiary of 
his most Christian majesty. 

The cause of the archduchess, Maria Theresa, was 
warmly espoused by the king and people of Great Bri- 
tain, who voted her liberal supplies ; and 16,000 Bri- 
tish troops were sent over to her assistance. 



France. 217 

At the battle of Dettingen, June 27, 1743, the En- 
glish were victorious. In the year 1 744, Lewis concert- 
ed an invasion of England, under the young Pretender. 
May 11, 1745, the king and dauphin had their vanity 
highly gratified by their troops gaining the battle of Fon- 
tenoy. An end was put to the progress of this war by 
the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, April 30, 1748, the basis 
of which was, a restitution of all the places taken on 
both sides. 

In the year 1756, hostilities were again renewed, and 
the storm raged with violence over the greater part of 
Europe. Germany, France, Russia, and Sweden, were 
combined against Prussia and Great Britain. In 1757, 
Jan. 6, Damien, a native of Arras, attempted to kill 
the king. The death this poor fanatical wretch suffered is 
shocking to humanity; and, although the act of a people 
who pride themselves in civility and refinement, might fill 
the hearts of savages with horror. He was conducted 
to the common place of execution, amidst a vast con- 
course of the populace ; stripped naked, and fastened 
to the scaffold by iron gyres. One of his hands was 
then burnt in liquid flaming sulphur. His thighs, legs, 
and arms, were torn with red hot pincers. Boiling 
oil, melted lead, rosin, and sulphur, were poured into 
the wounds : and, to complete the awful catastrophe, 
tight ligatures being tied round his limbs, he was torn 
to pieces by young and vigorous horses ! 

After a very active, splendid, and universal war, 
perhaps the most bloody between disciplined armies, 
peace was concluded at Paris on the 10th of February 
1763, as humiliating to France as it was honourable t6 
England. 

Lewis XV. died May 10, 1774, and was succeeded 
by his grandson Lewis XVI. The events subsequent 
to this period have been productive of a revolution, 
which has shaken all Europe to its foundation : we will 
therefore reserve them for the matter of another Chapter, 



2 D 



ifistory of all Nations. 218 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Assembly of the Rotables. — Junction of the Citizens 
and Soldiers.— Destruction of the Bastile. — Death of 
the King and Queen. — War with England. — Death 
of the Dauphin. — Descent of the French upon Egypt, 
— The English take the French fleet. — Russia joins 
the English and Austrians. — Various successes in 
Italy. 

From the increase of pecuniary embarrassment, and 
a dissatisfaction at the system of taxation, particularly 
a declaration of a new stamp-duty, the parliament of Pa- 
ris began seriously to remonstrate with the king in the 
year 1787. On the 22d of February, 1788, the notables 
were assembled by Lewis, who informed them of his 
intention to ameliorate the burden of revenue by a more 
equal taxation ; but owing to the party spirit of the 
friends of M. Necker and M. de Calonne, two contend- 
ing ministers, the king and the assembly did not agree 
in their plans of finance. From this aera may be dated 
the commencement of the French revolution. 

In the month of July, 1791, the Parisians assembled 
in large bodies, and enrolled themselves as a regular mi- 
litia for the protection of their private properties and the 
capital at large. Sixty thousand citizens were soon in 
motion ; and they were as soon spontaneously joined by 
the French guards. The armourers shops were pillaged 
of their weapons. The guards trained the citizens to 
arms ; and they took on themselves, when thus consoli- 
dated, the name of ' National Guard. '* On the 14th 
of the month, they entered the hospital of invalids, and 
seized on 30,000 muskets, and 20 pieces of cannon ; 
and shortly after they besieged and gained possession of 
the prison and fortress of the Bastile. 



• La Garde Nationale, 



France* 21g 

During the remainder of this year, and through the 
whole of the next, a disposition towards republicanism 
increased evidently among the people. Te Deum was 
solemnly sung at Notre Dame in commemoration of tak- 
ing the Bastile. The nobility were persecuted, together 
with the priests. The aristocratic members of the as- 
sembly found it expedient to quit the kindom. His ma- 
jesty's title was changed from king of France to king of 
the French, A new division of the kingdom was made 
into eighty-three departments, instead of provinces, as 
formerly. The lands of the church were sequestered 
to serve the exigencies of the state. And all the titles 
of the nobility, together with the use of liveries and ar- 
morial bearings, were abolished by a decree of the as- 
sembly. 

The mild spirit of Lewis induced him to accept a coiv 
stitution, thus altered, in order to preserve peace in the 
nation ; but it had not the desired effect. A decree of 
sequestration was passed on the property of the emi- 
grants. Ecclesiastical distinctions were first done away, 
and afterwards the clergy were banished. And, to 
complete the whole, a memorial was presented from the 
Parisians, by Pethion, the mayor of that capital, de- 
manding the deposition of the king. 

On the 10th of August, 1792, after a dreadful mas- 
sacre of the Swiss-guards, and other persons at the 
Thuilleries, the national assembly pronounced the de- 
position of the unfortunate monarch. Shortly afterwards 
he was confined with his family in the prison of the Tem- 
ple. On the 11th day of December, he was brought up 
for trial to the bar of the convention ; and on the 21st 
of January following, he was put to death by the guil- 
lotine. 

The French nation was now become a republic The 
queen was tried and condemned on the 15th of October ; 
and on the 16th she was brought out from the Concier- 
gerie, and deprived of life by the same sort of instrument 
that had beheaded her unfortunate husband. 

Previously to this disputes had arisen between Great- 
Britain and France relative to the navigation of the 



220 History of all J\ations. 

Scheldt; for, on the 1st day of February, 1793, war 
was declared by the republic against the kingdom of 
Great-Britain. 

Impiety at this period became a prominent feature in 
France . On the 7th of November, Gobet, bishop of 
Paris, with other priests, abjured, in the convention, 
the Christian religion. Fanciful deities, such as Liberty, 
Equality, &cc. were consecrated as objects of worship ; 
and the further to promote this paganism, the old ca- 
lender was destroyed, and a new one formed. In it, the 
year, beginning the 23d of September, was divided into 
twelve months, ot thirty days each, and the remaining 
five days were devoted to national festivity. The Chris- 
tian sabbath was ordered to be discontinued, and the day 
of rest fixed for every decadi, or tenth day. 

February the 4th, 1792, the convention passed a de- 
cree, which, in the midst of all their atrocities, will be 
for ever remembered to their honor. Three deputies, 
two of them natives of St. Domingo, and the other a 
negro, were received it the bar, as representatives of that 
place. After they had given an account of the distur- 
bances and troubles on their island, a motion was made 
by La Croix, and carried into a law, without one dis- 
senting voice, that slavery should be entirely abolished 
within every part of the French dominions. The con- 
sular government of France, however, thought fit to 
attempt a privation of that liberty which the Convention 
granted to the negroes ; and the consequence is, that 
the extensive and important Island, St. Domingo, is now 
a free state ; styled the Empire of Hayti. 

A treaty of peace was concluded in 1795, between 
the French nation and the kingdoms of Spain and Prus- 
sia, On the 9th of June, the dauphin expired in the 
Temple, not without suspicion of violence. He and 
his sister had been confined in that prison in the year 
1792 ; but, shortly after his death, the princess was de- 
livered up to her relations in Germany. On the 27th 
of October the convention ended, and a new form of 
legislation was established ; it consisted of a ' council of 



France. 221 

ancient's, a 'council of five hundred,' and five rulers 
called a 'directory.' 

In Ju ne 1796, the French army entered the dominions 
of the pope, and thereby became possessed of many of 
those exquisite pieces of painting and ancient sculpture, 
with which they have since so richly adorned their capi- 
tal. They landed a small force on the coast of Pem- 
brokeshire on the 23d of February, 1797 ; but it was 
too insignificant to commit any depredations. This 
year is famous for the banishment of the accused mem- 
bers, and for the reduction of all Italy by the French 
troops under General Bonaparte. 

Admiral Brueys, with the Touloh fleet under his com- 
mand, left that port the latter end of May 1798, accom- 
panied by Bonaparte and an army of 40,000 men. This 
vast force proceeded to Egypt. The army was safely 
landed, and continued masters of that country till 1801 ; 
but the fleet was attacked at anchor, on the 1st of Au- 
gust, by admiral Nelson ; and all the line of-battle ships, 
except one, taken or destroyed. This was not the only 
check the French were now to experience. In the be- 
ginning of the year 1799, the emperor of Russia sent 
an army, under the command of field-marshal Suwar- 
off, to join the Austrian forces in Italy. The Russian 
troops were divided by their leader into three bodies ; 
and with them, for a considerable time, he vanquished 
the enemy at every point. The fears of the directory 
increased with the repeated defeats of the army; but 
their minds were restored to tranquility the January fol- 
lowing, when Suwaroff received an order from the 
court of St. Petersburg, as unexpected as it was sudden, 
to lead his soldiers into Poland. After various success 
in Egypt, Bonaparte received accounts of the disasters 
of the French in Italy. He therefore meditated a secret 
return to Paris, which, strange as it may appear, his good 
fortune enabled him to accomplish. On the 24th of Au- 
gust, 1799, he left the road of Aboukir in a small ship ; 
and, notwithstanding the English fleets covered the 
Mediterranean, he landed safe at Frejus in the month 
of October following. On his return to the capital, the 



122 History of all Nations. 

unstable government of France was once more changed. 
The directory was abolished, and the executive power 
committed to three consuls, Bonaparte, the first of 
these, was invested with more than regal authority : the 
other two, little better than cyphers, were Ducos and 
the abbe Sieyes. — Turner. 

The difficult passage of the French army of reserve, 
commanded by Bonaparte, over the mountains of St. 
Bernard, was followed by the entry of the French into 
Milan, and by the re-establishment of the Cisalpine Re- 
public. — This event lead:- us 10 ihe memorable battle of 
Marengo, vi hich procured a peace to the European con- 
tinent. The Austrian General Melas had disputed the 
field against the French with a most obstinate courage, 
and had thrice forced them to fall back and retreat; 
when General Desaix came up and decided the battle in 
favour of the French. This heroic officer was slain. 

By the armistice, in July, which was concluded in 
two days after, a considerable number of fortresses 
were delivered up to the French. The definitive treaty 
of peace between Austria and France was concluded on 
the 9th of February, 1806. 

On the 18th of May, 1804, the Legislative body of 
France conferred the imperial dignity on the first con- 
sul; which was presented to him, by the Senate in a 
body, in the following words — " Napoleon Bona- 
parte is declared Emperor of the French, and the im- 
perial dignity hereditary in legitimate descent from male 
to male, in the order of primogeniture, to the exclu- 
sion of females and their descent. The laws are to be 
promulgated thus: — Napoleon, by the grace of God, 
and the constitution of the republic, emperor of the 
French." 

This decree of the legislative body, was submitted 
to the French people, and a register opened in each dis- 
trict, for 12 days, to obtain their sentiments thereon ; 
having obtained a great majority of votes throughout 
the republic, it was finally sanctioned by the legisla- 
ture. 



France. 223 

In April, 1805, Bonaparte was proclaimed king of 
Italy, at Milan. 

In June, 1805, Bonaparte annexed Genoa, and the 
Ligurian republic, to France ! 

Bonaparte crossed the Rhine, on the 1st of October, 
180S, with the whole of the Grand Army, and on the 
4th hostilities commenced between the French and Aus- 
trians ; the latter was defeated at Guntsburgh, and the 
Duke of Brunswick mortally wounded. On the 19th 
the imperial city of Ulm was attacked by the French, 
and the Austrians completely defeated ; the whole line 
of the Iller forced, the city and vast magazines, cannon, 
&c. taken, and the Austrian commander General Mack : 
had he been a Mack Donald^ or a Macknamara, the 
strong city of Ulm and its numerous garrison of brave 
Germans would not have been so easily conquered. 

December the 2d, 1805, a most bloody battle was 
fought, between the French and the combined Austrian 
and Russian army at Austerlitz, in which the combined 
forces were defeated with great loss. The combined 
and French armies engaged in this dreadful contest are 
said to have amounted to nearly three hundred thousand 
men. This battle is remarkable for having three empe- 
rors present at it. The emperors of Germany, Russia, 
and France ; a circumstance we believe unprecedented, 
at least in modern history. 

Six days after the battle of Austerlitz, an armistice 
was signed between the emperors of France and Aus- 
tria ; by which the latter was compelled to consent to 
another dismemberment of his dominions. 

The following is a list of new kings and princes crea- 
ted by Bonaparte. — The Elector of Bavaria, king of 
Bavaria ; Elector of Wirtemberg, king of Wirtemberg ; 
Elector of Hesse, king of the Catti ; Elector of Baden, 
king of Baden ; Joseph Bonaparte, king of Naples ; 
Louis Bonaparte, king of Batavia ; Jerome Bonaparte, 
king of Westphalia ; Eugene Beauharnois (son-in-law 
to the emperor) viceroy of Italy ; Murat (brother-in-law 
to Bonaparte) duke of Cleves and Berg ; M. Talley- 
rand, prince of Benevento; cardinal Fesh, (uncle to 



224 History of all J\atiatis. 

Bonaparte) prince primate of the Rhenish confederacy ; 
M. Bernadotte, prince of Ponte-Corvo; Marshal Le- 
fevre, duke of Dantzick ; and Marshal Berthier duke of 
Neufchatel. 

On the 14th of June, 1807, a most bloody battle was 
fought between the Russians, Prussians and the French 
armies, at the town of Friedland on the River Alle. In 
this engagement, it is said, that the French had thirty 
thousand men killed and wounded ,* the Russians in 
this, and some previous engagements, lost about sixty 
thousand men, in killed, wounded and taken prisoners. 
An armistice took, place shortly after this action. — See 
more of France in the Appendix. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 
INTRODUCTION TO SCOTLAND. 

This country, anciently called Caledonia, lies between 
the 54th and 59th degree of north lat. and the 1st and 7th 
degree of west longitude from London. The River Te- 
ved on the eastern coast, and the Sol way Firth on the west, 
determine the limits between England and Scotland. — • 
The German ocean, with the Deucaledonean and the 
Irish Seas, flow around its eastern, northern, and west- 
ern coasts. The isles of Orkney and Shetland lie con- 
tiguous to its most northern extremity ; the Hebrides 
are adjacent to its north-western shores. 

The highest mountain in Scotland is Ben-Nevis, in 
Inverness-shire, near Fort- William ; on the north-east 
it is fifteeen hundred feet in height. 

The principal rivers in Scotland are the Tay, the 
Clyde, and the Forth. The chief source of the Tay is 
the lake of the same name. Soon after this noble river 
issues from the lake, it is joined by several less streams ; 
after passing the beautiful town of Perth, it is navigable ; 
and flows byT)undee, below which it forms a grand es- 
tuary, or frith. The mouth of the Clyde, below Glas* 




Sir. "William: Wallace the Svct* Patriot 

rejectmc' the overtures of _Z$T/~JV£? J£ JD TidJriJ^ . 



Scotland. 225 

gow, is equally advantageous to navigation. The falls 
of the Clyde, near Lanerk, are objects well deserving the 
attention of the traveller. The Frith of Forth is a re- 
markable guiph, formed by the mouth of that river. 
The Dee, the Don, and the Spey, are other rivers most 
worthy of notice in the north. 

Throughout Scotland there are a great many beautiful 
lakes, but the chief in extent and magnificence, is that 
of Loch Lomond, studded with romantic islands, and 
adorned with shores of the greatest diversity * The 
depth of this lake, near the bottom of Ben Lomond, is 
from sixty to eighty fathoms. Loch Leven, in Fife- 
shire, attracts observation from historical fame. Loch 
Tay is a grand and beautiful expanse of water. Loch 
Ness rivals Loch Tay in extent and reputation ; its 
great depth, being 139 fathoms, is the reason that it 
never freezes ! Both sides of Lock Ness are beautifully 
variegated with woods of majestic oaks, birch, hazel, 
poplar, ash, beach, &c. On the north side of this loch, 
opposite to the famous fall of Foygers, stands a remarka-^ 
ble mountain; in the Gaelic tongue called, " Maull 
Fonrnvonny ;" on the top of which is a small lake, which 
is frequently covered with ice throughout the whole 
year, and so deep that it never could be fathomed. 

The chief minerals of Scotland are lead, iron, and 
coal. In passing to the less important minerals, Ben 
Nevis aifords a beautiful granite ; a black marble, fretted 
with white, like lace-work, occurs near Fort- William, 
in the Highlands ; and jasper is found in various 
places. 

Several beautiful species of marble have been lately 
found in the western isles, especially in those of Tirey 
and Cob, near the isle of Mull : no similar marble being 
found any where, French naturalists have called it Tirite, 
from the name of the island. It is of a rose colour, pe- 
netrated with small irregular crystals of green por- 
blende. 

One of the most surprising objects of curiosity is the 
vast basaltic of the isle of Stqffa, called now Fingal's 

2 E 



226 History of all Nations. 

Cave. The entrance of the cave is fifty-six feet in 
height, and thirty-five in breath : the whole length or 
depth is one hundred and forty feet. It is supported on 
each side by beautiful columns, disposed in the most ex- 
act order, and in form resembling the most regular pil- 
lars of architecture. The whole south-west of the island 
is likewise supported by ranges of these pillars, above 
fifty feet high, and some above sixty feet thick, standing 
in natural colonades. 

The aurochs, whose bones and horns are yet found in 
some places, buried under many layers of earth, were 
the largest of the Caledonian quadrupeds : although not 
nourished by carnage, yet the slightest provocation was 
at any time enough to exasperate them to rage, and their 
rage was death to almost every inhabitant of the forest. 
The stag and the roe, particularly the latter, are nume- 
rous in the Highlands. The eagle, the falcon, the sky- 
lark, the thrush, the mevis, Sec. are not unknown here : 
The shores and islands present numerous kinds of sea- 
fowl. 

Scotland abounds with all kinds of scale and shell-fish, 
and contributes greatly to the supply of the English 
market, in lobsters, salmon, &c. On the northern and 
western coasts are numerous seals, (or sea dogs) and it 
appears from the life of St. Columba, that the ancients 
had a method of rendering those amphibious animals 
tame and obedient to call I The herrings appear off 
Shetland in innumerable columns in the month of June, 
altering the very appearance of the ocean, which ripple 
like a current : These columns have been computed to 
extend five or six miles in length, by three or four in 
breadth. They afterwards divide to the east and west 
of Great Britain, furnishing a providential supply of 
food to many sterile districts : How bountiful is our 
Beneficent Creator ! May our hearts ever vibrate with 
fervent gratitude to so good a Benefactor I 



Scotland. 227 

The cities of Edinburgh* and Glasgow would do 
honor to any country. In each of these is an old and 
new town, which form a pleasant contrast. 

There are other towns, where trade and industry are- 
rapidly increasing : such as Aberdeen, Dundee, Inver- 
ness, Perth, Montrose, &c. 

The law of Scotland differs in many instances from 
that of England, being founded in a great measure upon 
the civil law. The session consists of a President and 
fourteen Senators, is the highest court of Justice ; they are 
all appointed for life by the king. In civil matters there 
are no juries as in England; criminal causes are deter- 
mined by the majority, not by the unanimity of the jury 
as in England. 

Since the Revolution of 1688, the ecclesiastical gov- 
ernment of Scotland is of the Presbyterian form, an es- 
tablishment long opposed by its monarchs as unfavor- 
able to the royal influence. To the general assembly lay- 
men also are admitted under the name of Hiding Elders, 
and constitu te about one thirdjof this venerable^body » All 
clerical matters are discussed in this court, from which 
there is no appeal but to the British parliament. In gene- 
ral the present clergy merit the greatest praise, as men of 
enlightened minds and moderate conduct. Among the 
higher orders, generally, the church of England and 
the episcopal church of Scotland are the prevailing reli- 



* Edinburgh is the metropolis of Scotland, and situated in Latitude 56. 
It was called by the ancient Scots, Dun-Eden, on the hill o f Eden, allu- 
ding as I suppose, to the garden of Eden. For this country (Mid-Lothian) 
with respect to its beauty, being adorned with a number of Noblemen and 
Gentlemen's seats, which are truly superb and elegant, a very fertile and 
well inhabited soil, and the prospect of one of the finest rivers in Europe, 
may justly be termed the Eden or Paradise of Scotland. This city is 
reckoned the most populous of any of its size in Europe, the houses being' 
remarkably lofty (some more than ten stories high) and contiguous to 
one another. Edinburgh is situated upon a hill. On the west end of the 
city there rises a hill and a rock, on which is built a castle, inaccessible up- 
on all sides but that towards the city. It was anciently called the Maiden 
Castle, because the Picts kept their daughters in it : and it was thought to 
be the winged castle mentioned by Ptolemy. 



228 History of all Nations. 

gion. There are but few Roman catholics, and these 
chiefly In the Highlands. 

The Scottish language in the Lowlands is the Anglo 
Saxon, biended with the ancient Scandinavian. In the 
Highlands it is the Gaelic or Erse, a dialect of the Cel- 
tic. English, however > is understood every where, and 
spoken by all people of education with great accuracy. 
The national characters bestowed upon the inhabitants 
of different countries, must be received with large allow- 
ances ror exaggerations and prejudice.* 

The shrewdness, cunning, and selfishness imputed 
to the people of Scotland, give merely the unfavourable 
aspect of that sagacity which enables them to discover 
their own interest, to extricate themselves from difficul- 
ty, and to act upon every occurrence with decision and 
prudence. 

The national spirit of Scotchmen has been often taken 
notice of, insomuch, that they are all supposed to be 
in a confederacy to commend and extol one another. — 
We may remark, that, as candidates for fame, or for 
profit in London market, they are greatly the minority, 
and it is not surprising that in such a situation they 
should feel a common bond of union, like that of stran- 
gers in a hostile country. — Mavor. 



"The ancient geographers, as Strabo observes, di- 
vided the then known world into four parts. The eas- 
tern they called India ; the southern Ethiopia ; the 



* We perceive a strong propensity in most men to think more favorably 
of their own Country than of any other. This principle appears natural and 
just ; but when they ascribe peculiar virtues and talents to their own coun- 
trymen, which they are not willing to allow others to possess, it is carry- 
ing the amor patria too far. Though America can boast of a Washington 
and a Franklin ; England, of a Marlborough and a Newton ; Scotland, of a 
Wallace and a Buchanan ; Ireland, of a Montgomery and a Boyle ; and France, 
of a Turenne and a Montesquieu ; yet the excellence of a few, or the baseness 
of some, ought not to stamp the general character of any Nation. — F.dit'*. 



Scotland 229 

western Celtia, and the northern Scythia. In the 
European parts they knew but of two nations besides the 
Greeks, and those were the Celtse and the Scythze. 
Those that inhabited the northward, says Strabo, were 
called Scythse, and those to the west Celtse. The in- 
habitants of the higher Asia, situate above Media, 
Mount Taurus, and Caucasus, were all of them, from 
the beginning, called Scythians, and this name was 
known to the most ancient Greeks, though it had not its 
first rise from them, but from their dexterity in shoot- 
ing of arrows,* darting their javelins, and such like ex- 
ercises. These Scythians were formerly reputed the 
most ancient nation in the world, which made Justine, f 
after Trogus Pompus, say that they were before the 
Egyptians ! who disputed the prerogative of antiquity 
with them, and from whom our antiquarians make the 
Scots to be descended. And nothing can be more cer- 
tain, for, by the sacred scriptures, we find that the Scy- 
thians came from Magog, the second son of Japhet ; 
whereas the Egyptians were the descendants of Miz- 
raim, the second son of Shem, and consequently the 
former must have the pre-eminence, since Japhet was 
Shem's eldest brother, and the first begotton of Noah- 
Perron has clearly proved, that the Gomerians, or the 
descendants of Gomer, were called Sacae, while they 
continued in the Upper Asia, and that this name was an- 
ciently given to all the Scythians. 

These Sacae made great incursions towards the north 
part of Asia, and all over Europe ; and being in quest 
of some proper place to fix themselves, they took a re- 
solution, after their frequent rovings, to settle above the 
Euxine Sea ; here they changed their names into that 
of Cimbrians, or Cimbri. Being thus settled about 
Paulus Maeodidus, they communicated their name to 
that famous strait called the Cimbrian Bosphorus.| — • 



* See M. Perron's Antiquities of Nations. 

f See History, chapter 1. 

\ See Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, and Plutarch. 



236 History of all Nations. 

"Now these Cimbrians," says bishop Stillingfleet, "hav- 
ing no skill in navigation or astronomy, and the woods 
in the first ages of the world impassible, the people still 
went furthe r and further by the river's sides, till at last, 
finding themselves bounded by the vast mountains in 
these northern countries, and the sea beyond them, 
they sat down there, and in time so replenished those 
parts, that they were desirous to discharge themselves, 
by sending colonies abroad ; to which end they accus- 
tomed themselves to the sea, and thence these Scythians 
came into the northern parts of Britain, where they had 
the name of Caledonians. Now, Ireland being the next 
adjacent country to them, and in their view, it was very 
natural for them, when they were overstocked with peo- 
ple, to send a colony thither. 

To confirm (this conjecture of the peopling of Ire- 
land from the north of Britain, and that both are des, 
cended from the ancient Scythians, the learned Stra- 
bo, in his first book, gives the name of Celtae and Iberi, 
or rather that of Celti-Berians and Celti- Scythians, to 
those people who lived towards the western parts of Eu-' 
rope; and from the Celti-Berians in Ireland, is that 
country called Ibernia ; as theScyths being in the north 
of Britain, was the reason of its being called Scotia, or 
Scotland ; also Alfred, in the English translation of Oro- 
sius, calls them Scytan, and the Germans call both the 
Scythians and Stots, Scutten. Another strong argument 
for this conjecture, is, the conformity that is to be ob- 
served betwixt the customs and manners of the ancient 
Celtae -Scyth as and the Scots Highlanders. The CeltEe 
wore a small cap, or rather a little round bonnet, upon 
their head 5 so do the Highlanders. They were natu- 
rally valiant, inured to hardships, agile and expert in all 
manly exercises ; so are the Highlanders. The arms 
of the Celts were a head piece, a target, bows and ar- 
rows, and a short sword like a bayonet ; and some of 
our Highlanders have these arms to this very day. If 
the Celtae had their bards or poets, who sung the il- 
lustrious actions of their ancestors, so have the High- 



Scotland. 231 

landers. If the Celtse, by misfortune, were beaten, 
they chose rather to die with their swords in their hands, 
than to be taken prisoners ; so did the Highlanders in 
former days. The Celtav when they went to battle, 
encouraged their men to fight by music ; so do the 
Highlanders. The Celtae were abstemious and plain 
in their way of feeding ; so were our Highlanders. 
The Celtae, that they might make their children hardy, 
robust, and healthy, used to wash them in cold water ; 
so do the Highlanders. The language of the Celtae is 
still retained by the Highlanders. And lastly, the Cel- 
tae were clothed in plaids, after the same manner that the 
Scots Highlanders are, as appears from what is said of 
them by Cains S. Appolonius, in the fourth book of 
his Epistles. 

Tacitus, in the life of his father- in- law Agricola,* says 
that in his time the northern parts of this island were 
well inhabited, as will appear by the following account 
that he has given of them. The Brigants, who extend- 
ed as far as the river Tine, were, as he saith, subdued by 
Petilius Cerealis ; the Silures by Julius Frontinus ; the 
Ordorices by Julius Agricola, in his first entry upon 
this province ; but in his third campaign he went as far 
as the river Tay. In his fifth he says that he fought 
with and discovered nations before unknown ; and in 
his sixth he applied himself to the conquest of these na- 
tions, among whom a general insurrection was appre- 
hended, and all the passages by land were supposed to 
be beset ; and, therefore, Agricola sent out a fleet to 
discover the country, the very sight of which struck 
them with great terror and amazement — And then, says 
he, the Caledonians armed themselves, and set upon the 
Romans with all the force they could make, and falling 
upon the ninth legion unexpectedly, they had totally 
defeated them if the army had not come up very timely 
to rescue them ; by which good success the Roman ar- 



Tac. Tit. Agr. chap. 17, 18. 



232 History of all Nations, 

my, being much encouraged, cried out to march into 
Caledonia, that they might, at last, come to the utmost 
part of Britain. But the Caledonians, not ascribing 
this to the valor of the Romans, but to the bad conduct 
of their general, resolved to fight it out bravely ; and 
having disposed of their wives and children in places of 
safety, after several meetings and solemn sacrifices, they 
entered into a strict confederacy to stand to the utmost 
against the Romans. They shortly raised an army of 
thirty thousand men, under the command of Galgacus, 
or Galdus, whom historians make the twenty-first 
king of Scotland. This excellent prince, being ready 
to give them battle, told them, in his masterly oration , 
so much commended by Justin Lipsius, "that they 
were the last of the Britons, there being no nation be- 
yond them ; and he calls them the most noble of the 
Britons, who had never beheld the slavery of others."* 
Upon this a bloody battle was fought at the foot of the 
Grampian hills, where Galgacus had ten thousand of 
his men killed and the rest dispersed ; after which Agri- 
cola was recalled. 

This is the substance of what Tacitus says concern- 
ing the inhabitants of North- Britain. From Tacitus' 
account it is evident that our countrymen at that time, 
were not inconsiderable for their numbers and valor, 
who were able to oppose the whole Roman army, and 
make their victory so doubtful. 

Rudbeck has undertaken to prove that Ptolomy was 
extremely mistaken in the situation of the northern na- 
tions, removing them several degrees more eastward 
than they ought to have been, and so very much strait- 
ening Scandinavia ; which for its vast population, Jirandes 
calls the work-house of nations. These European Scyth- 
ians made frequent expeditions by sea; and Tacitus says 



* Thus the pen of an enemy has conferred immortality upon the renown- 
ed Galgacus ; and the laurel which was intended for the brow of Agricola, 
imparted a verdant and ever blooming wreath to his illustrious victim. 



Scotland. 233 

particularly of the Sueonos,* that they were well pro- 
vided with shipping. And also, Olans Rudbeck, from 
the old Gothetic historians,! tells us, " that it was a cus- 
tom for them to go abroad by sea. Therefore, as Stil- 
iingfleet has justly observed, $ there can be no improba- 
bility that these northern nations should people that part 
of Britain which lay nearest them." 

From these, and a number of other arguments that 
might be adduced if necessary, it is much more proba- 
ble that the ancient Scyts or Scots first peopled Ireland 
than that it was peopled from Egypt or Spain, as some 
authors have attempted to prove. 

Agricola, with a numerous army, made another at- 
tempt to conquer the Caledonians. Upon which Gal- 
dus made an excellent^and animated speech to his sol- 
diers, which concluded thus: " In short, here is the 
general, and here is the army. There you see tributes 
and slavery: here death or liberty — Therefore let us 
consider the glory of our intrepid ancestors, and the 
fate of our posterity." 

This speech being delivered with the fierceness of a lion, 
and darting on the Romans like a flash of lightning, was 
immediately seconded with the acclamations of the 
whole army. Agricola, on the other side, encouraged 
his men with all the force and charms of the Roman 
eloquence; and fearing to be flanked, he drew out his 
flank to the utmost length, and advanced himself at the 
head of his foot. The battle began at some distance 
from the main body, wherein the Caledonians shewed 
great art and courage, by means of their broad swords 
and targets, with which they warded off the darts of the en- 
emy. To prevent which inconveniency, Agricola order- 
ed the Batavian and Tungrian cohorts to advance against 



* De Mor. Germ. Chap. 44. 

t Atlan. Chap. 7 

X Orig". Brit. chap. 5, p. 247. 

2 



•234 History of all Batumi. 

them, with their'sharp-pointed bucklers, which rendered 
their pointless swords useless, and so mangled their faces, 
that they were obliged to retire. This advantage being 
seconded by the emulation of the other cohorts, the 
main body of the Scots army, which had till now staid 
upon the tops of the mountains, came down, thinking 
to surround the Romans. But Agricola, suspecting 
this event, opposed them with four wings of horsemen, 
which he had reserved in case of any sudden stratagem. 
Then the battle was fought by both parties with the 
utmost valor and fury ; and all the bravest men of the 
Caledonians being slain, Galdus was compelled to retire 
with the remaining part of his army to the mountains. 
In this battle twenty thousand Caledonians and twelve 
thousand Romans were slain. After the victory Agri- 
cola was called home by the emperor Domitian. 

Shortly after his departure, sedition arose in the Ro- 
man camp. Upon which, the Scots and Picts raised a 
new army, under the command of Galdus, attacked 
the Romans, obtained a signal victory over them, and 
pursued them to the country of the Brigants, where 
the Romans were forced not only to sue for peace, but 
to content themselves with those parts of South Britain 
which they had reduced to the form of a province, leaving 
the Caledonians in peaceable possession of all the north- 
ern parts. After this, Galdus reigned a number of 
years, in great peace and happiness ; and died at Epiack, 
which was then the principal city in Scotland, in the 
thirty-fifth year of his reign, and in the year of our Lord 
one hundred and three. 

To Galdus succeeded his son Luctacus, a prince who 
gave himself up to all manner of excesses and debauch- 
eries. In the third year of his reign, having called his 
counsellors together at DunstafFage, the most wise and 
grave men among them began to exhort him to imitate 
the virtues of his father, the brave and worthy Galdus, 
and not to suffer such acts of cruelty and oppression 
to be committed as were daily done by his authority. — 
But he, instead of taking their advice, commanded 



Scotland. 235 

them to prison. The people being informed of this act 
of arbitrary power, assembled and killed their king and 
all his favorites. 

Mogallus, or Mogaldus, the grandson of the noble- 
Galdus by his daughter, succeeded Luctacus. In the 
beginning of his reign he reformed all the abuses that 
his subjects complained of ; and having settled all 
things in good order, he raised an army to oppose the 
Komans, who had made several incursions upon his do- 
minions. In a pitched battle he gave the Romans a 
signal overthrow. The emperor Hadrian being inform - 
ed of this, sent over Julius Severus to oppose Mogaldus. 
But he being suddenly recall ed, on account of some 
insurrection in Syria, the emperor himself was obliged 
to come over with an army ; and he being a greater lover 
of peace than war, desired rather to retain the bounds 
of his empire than to enlarge them. When he came to 
York, and found the country beyond it harrassedby war, 
he resolved to take a particular view of the devasta- 
tion, and marched his army to the river Tyne ; where, 
being informed by the old soldiers that followed Agrico- 
la, of the great difficulty that he would have in conquering 
the Caledonians, he built a wall and trench, in the year 
one hundred and twenty one, extending eighty miles in 
length, and by it excluded the Scots and Picts from the 
Provincial Britons. * 

According to bishop Elphinston's history, now in. 
the Bodleian Library, at Oxford, it appears that Fergus, 
a native of Ireland, was the first king of Scotland, who 
was crowned three hundred and thirty years before the 
incarnation of our Saviour ! Fergus having totally de- 
feated Coilus the king of the Britons, on the banks of 
the river Don, the southern and eastern parts of Scot- 
land were called Coil, or Kyle, which name the n> 
habitants of those parts still retain in the Highland 
tongue. 



See the learned Dr. Geo. Mackenzie's Works. 



236 . History of all Nations, 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

Scots and Picts.— -Kenneth II — Bruce and BalioL*— 
The James's. 

In the reign of Constantine, Caledonia was divided 
between the Scots and Picts, whose ruling passion 
was the love of arms ; and their warriors, who stripped 
themselves for the day of battle, were distinguished 
in the eyes of the Romans by the strange custom of 
painting their naked bodies with gaudy colours and fan- 
tastic figures,* like the inhabitants of England before 
the invasion of Julius Csesar. 

On the final departure of the Romans from this island, 
the northern tribes made cruel depredations on their 
southern neighbours. 

The Scots and Picts long continued separate ; and 
the hand of nature had contributed to mark the distinc- 
tion. The former were the men of the hills, and the 
latter of the plains. At length Kenneth II. about 
the middle of the ninth century, who was the 69th king 
of the Scots, completely subdued the Picts, and united 
into one monarchy the whole country, from the wall of 
Adrian to the Northern Ocean, when his kingdom be- 
came known by its present name, Scotland. 

The successors of Kenneth were engaged in contin- 
ual contests with the Saxons, Danes, and other barbarous 
nations, that had settled in the northern counties of 
England. 

No pretence was made by the English monarchs to a 
claim of sovereignty over Scotland, till the Scottish 
king, William, surnamed the Lion, in an incursion into 
the bordering counties of England, was taken prisoner 
by Henry II. and compelled to do homage for his king- 
dom. This claim was renounced bv Richard I. but 



Gibbon, 



Scotland. 237 

again renewed by Edward I. upon the death of Alex - 
der III. From this period the history of Scotland be- 
comes more interesting. 

Alexander leaving no male issue, two competitors ap- 
peared for the vacant throne, John Baliol and Robert 
Bruce, descendants of David, earl of Huntington, third 
son of David I. Bruce was the third son of Isabel, earl 
David's second daughter ; and Baliol was the grandson 
of Margaret, the eldest daughter. 

Edward of England was chosen umpire of the con- 
test. This monarch, with artful policy, first prevailed 
on the Scottish barons to admit his claims of sovereign- 
ty, and afterwards, finding Baliol the most obsequious 
of the two, put him in possession of the crown. Ba- 
liol soon after, exasperated at the haughty superiority 
which Edward . assumed, renounced his feudal depen- 
dency, and was compelled to abdicate the throne. 

The English king now attempted to seize the king- 
dom, as fallen to himself by the rebellion of his vassal, 
but was baffled in his attempts by the heroic valour of 
sir William Wallace, who nobly took up arms in defence 
of the freedom of his country ;* and Robert Bruce, 
who, as grandson of Baliol's competitor, asserted his 
claim ; and at length having established himself on the 
throne, A. D. 1307, restored the independency of the 
kingdom of Scotland. He settled the crown, in failure 
of his own male issue, on his daughter Margery, mar- 
ried to the high steward of Scotland. 

His son, David Bruce, was a weak but virtuous 
prince. The beginning of his reign was disturbed by 
the usurpation of Edward Baliol, who, after nine years, 
was driven out of the kingdom. David was afterwards 
involved in continual war with Edward III. by whom 



* This worthy patriot (like the great Cine innatus and Washington) re- 
turned to his farm, after securing the freedom of his country. It is de- 
voutly to be wished that modern and future warriors would imitate such 
exemplary characters ! 



23 8 History of all Nations . 

he was taken prisoner at the battle of Durham, and con- 
veyed to England. He died A. D. 1370. 

Robert II. the son of Margery Bruce, succeeded, and 
was the first of the house of Stewart. This was an un- 
important reign. 

Robert III. ascended the throne of his father. His 
infirmities and weakness obliged him to resign the go- 
vernment inio the hands of his brother, the duke of 
Albany. The unnatural ambition of the regent, who as- 
pired to the crown, involved him in the murder of Da- 
vid, the king's eldest son, A. D. 1401. The unhappy 
father, fearful lest the same should befal James, his se- 
cond son, attempted to convey him to France , but the 
young prince was intercepted by the English, though in 
the time of a profound truce, and ungenerously detained 
a prisoner nineteen years. Robert died of grief, A. D. 
1405. 

James I. returned from captivity to the throne of 
Scotland, A. D. 1424. His reign was remarkable for 
the excellence and wisdom of his administration. He 
reformed the laws, and restrained the inordinate power 
of the nobles. These regulations alarmed the haughty 
barons. They conspired with the earl of Athol, and 
assassinated their monarch, in the fifty-fourth year of 
his age, and the thirteenth of his reign, A. D. 1437. 

James II. a prince of an impetuous temper, pursued 
the plans of his father for the humiliation of the nobles. 
He reigned with absolute authority ; civilized and im- 
proved his kingdom, and was killed at the siege of Rox- 
burgh in 1460. 

James III. was a feeble and impolitic prince. He 
quarrelled with the barons, and attached himself to mean 
favourites. The nobles revolted, and compelled the 
"king's son to head the insurrection. The unfortunate 
James was defeated, and killed at the battle of Bannock- 
burn, in 1488. 

James the IV. was an accomplished monarch, res- 
pected by his nobles, and beloved by his people. He 
married Margaret, daughter of Henry 7th. A rupture 



Scotland. 239 

happening in England, he invaded Northumberland, 
and was slain in the rash and unfortunate battle of Flow - 
den, in 1513. He was succeeded by 

James V. a great but uncultivated spirit. Though 
his education had been neglected, he was an encourager 
of learning; promoted new manufactories, and invited 
foreign artificers to reside in his kingdom. His reign 
was long and turbulent. He humbled the nobles by- 
conferring all offices of trust on the clergy, refusing to 
imitate the conduct of Henry VIII. in throwing off the 
jurisdiction of the Pope, the English monarch turned 
his arms against him at the battle of Solway — Moss, 
which followed, James was deserted by his army. — 
This had such an effect upon him that he abandoned 
himself whollv to despair, which terminated his life in 
1542. 

Mary, his daughter and successor, was born only 
eight days before her father's death. The intrigues, 
amours, and misfortunes of this truly accomplished but 
unhappy Queen, are familiar to every one. She was 
beheaded in England, by order of Queen Elizabeth, 
in 1587. 

James VI. succeeded his unfortunate mother in Scot- 
land, and on the death of Elizabeth, ascended to the 
throne of England by the title of James 1st. By this 
removal of the court, trade was for a time checked, ag- 
riculture neglected, and the people impoverished. But 
in the reign of queen Anne (1707) the affairs of Scotland, 
were placed on a more prosperous footing than ever, by 
an act of union, which consolidated the two kingdoms 
into one, under the title of Great Britain : from this pe- 
riod the Scottish is one and the same with England. — 
Turner. 

The following remarks, copied from Dr. Mavor's Uni- 
versal History* will give our readers an idea of some 



A work of gTeat merit. 



240 History of all Nations. 

of the sanguinary contests which took place between 
two brave nations, now, and for a century past, happily 
united. 

From Margaret of JSorway to the death of Bruce. 

Margaret was an infant and in a foreign country. — 
Faction and anarchy distracted the kingdom. Edward, 
one of the most valiant and polite monarchs that ever 
sat on the English throne, was ambitious of adding 
Scotland to the dominions of his crown. 

He applied to the court of Rome, to authorise a mar- 
riage between his son and his grand niece, and having 
gained the consent of Eric, he intrigued with the Scot- 
tish nobles to obtain their concurrence. Every thing 
served to favor his views, when one fatal event rendered 
his well concerted plan entirely abortive. 

The child sickened on the passage from Norway, was 
brought on shore in Orkney, and there languished and 
died. 

The consternation of the Scots can be more easily 
imagined than described : they saw full before them the 
unhappy prospect of a disputed succession, war with 
England and intestine discord. The anarchy attending 
an interregnum rendered the exigency pressing ; it was 
evident, that if the decision was left to the claimants, 
the sword alone must determine the dispute. In order, 
therefore, to avoid the miseries of a civil war, Edward 
was chosen umpire, and both parties agreed to acquiesce 
in his decree. 

The chief or rather the only competitors for the crown 
were Bruce and Baliol, the descendants of David, Earl 
of Hunting don, who was brother to the two kings, 
Malcom and William. Bruce was the grandson, and 
Baliol the great-grandson of David. But Bruce was 
descended of the younger, and Baliol of the elder 
sister. Both had considerable property in England, and 
each had his adherents in Scotland. Edward carrying 
a great army advanced to the frontiers, whither he invi- 



Sbofland. Ml 

exi the nobility and all the competitors to attend him. — = 
He opened the conferences by informing them that he 
was come to determine the right among the competitors 
to the crown, not in virtue of the reference made to him, 
but in quality of superior, and liege lord of the realm. 

He then produced his proofs of this superiority, and 
required of them an acknowledgment of it. The 
Scottish deputies, astonished at so new a pretension, an- 
swered only by their silence. One bolder than the rest 
at last replied — " that, concerning this claim of feudal 
supremacy, no determination could be made while the 
throne should be vacant.;" " By holy Edward, whose 
crown I wear," said the monarch with stern impa- 
tience, 

*' I will vindicate my just rights, or perish in the attempt." 

At their request he granted them a delay till the mor- 
row, in order that they might deliberate. Next day the 
deputies declined giving any answer to a question which 
could only be decided by the whole community. In 
consequence of this remonstrance Edward gave them a 
further delay of three weeks for taking the sense of their 
constituents. On the second of June following the assem- 
bly resumed its session. 

Robert Bruce was first to acknowledge the superiority 
of Edward, in which he was followed by all the compe- 
titors. Barnet, on the part of Edward, protested, that 
although now the, acknowledged lord paramount of 
Scotland, he did not finally relinquish his right to the 
immediate sovereignty of that kingdom. One hundred 
and four commissioners were nominated to examine the; 
several claims against the ensuing year. 

Meanwhile, Edward demanded possession of all the 
fortresses, which were shamefully given up to him ; and 
to crown their disgrace, the prelates and barons present 
swore fealty to the king of England ; and the like oath 
was required of those who were absent. 

The commissioners, upon examination, gave their 
verdict in favor of Baliol, who was crowned accordingly, 

2<? 



242 History of all Actions, 

and did homage to Edward ; but this royal vassal was 
not to hold the sceptre long. Edward pretended to rule 
in Scotland over king and subjects by English laws. 
Baliol remonstrated. Edward summoned him to the 
bar of his tribunal as a private person. Baliol, though 
a prince of gentle disposition, returned into Scotland, 
provoked at this usage, and resolved at all hazards to 
vindicate his liberty : with this view, he concluded a 
secret treaty with France. The niece of that king was 
given in marriage to the son of Baliol, and they mutual- 
ly engaged to assist each other against Edward. 

Notwithstanding this treaty Philip de Valois made a 
truce with Edward, and left the Scots to bear the brunt 
of the English armament by sea and land. 

The war commenced by an invasion of England. — 
The Highlanders ravaged all the country as far as Car- 
lisle, to which they laid siege. Edward attacked Ber- 
wick : he found it well garrisoned and defended. We 
are told that in a sally the garrison burnt eighteen of his 
ships, and put the crews to the sword. But Edward's 
land army were at the gates ; they assaulted, took, and 
sacked the town, massacreing its inhabitants without 
distinction. 

Elated with success, Edward dispatched an army 
against Dunbar. The Scots hastened to its relief, 
a fatal battle was fought, in which the Scots lost 10, ©GO 
men. Dunbar was taken. Its fall was followed by 
that of Rossburgh. Edinburgh and Sterling opened their 
gates to the enemy ; and in a short space all the south- 
ern parts were subdued. % 

Still, however, might a valiant prince have found re- 
sources : but the feeble and timid Baliol, disgusted 
with his own subjects, overawed by the English, hast- 
ened to make his submission, and made a solemn and 
irrevocable resignation of his crown into the hands of 
Edward, He was carried prisoner to England, and 
committed to the tower. Earl Warrene was left gov- 
ernor of Scotland : the other officers were all entrusted 
to England. 



Scotland. 243 

Among the barbarous expedients devised to humble 
and reduce Scotland for ever, was that of destroying or 
carrying away every record, every monument of na- 
tional history or national independence. Robert Bruce 
had contributed to the overthrow of Baliol, in hopes of 
advancing his own preferment. When he humbly ven- 
tured to mention his claims to Edward, " What," 
said the king to him, " have we nothing else to do but to 
conquer kingdoms for you?" The temptation was too 
strong for the virtue of the English monarch to resist, 
and he determined to hold fast what his arms and policy 
had gained. 

National animosities, and the insolence of victory, 
now conspired to render the English government intol- 
erable to the Scots, who bore with the utmost impa- 
tience a yoke to which, from the earliest period of their 
monarchy, they had been unaccustomed, Warrene 
retiring into England, on account of his bad state of 
health, left the administration in the hands of Ormesby, 
who was appointed justiciary of Scotland, and Creping- 
ham, who held the office of treasurer. With these there 
remained a small military force to secure their precarious 
authority. 

At this distressing period (1296) arose a true hero, 
a disinterested patriot, in the person of Sir William 
Wallace, whose magnanimous soul could no longer 
brook to see his country torn by factions, deserted by 
its chiefs, and oppressed by foreigners. Robust, active 
and brave, he stept forth to reunite the friends of liberty 
under his banner. 

The lustre of his birth is lost in that of his actions : 
the rapidity of his victories, and the frequency of his 
exploits, have disordered the chronology of his history. 
Many of his noblest actions were, no doubt, performed 
before his reputation found access to the annals of his 
country. 

In May 1297 he made a bold attempt to surprize Or- 
mesby, the English justiciary, then holding a court at 
Scone. Ormesby, with difficulty, escaped to Eng- 



244 History of alt ]\ations, 

land. He was soon followed by all the officers of Ed- 
ward, so that Wallace and his men, with an astonishing 
rapidity, became masters of Lanerk, Dundee, Forfar, 
Brekin, and Montrose; the castle ofDurotters, reck- 
oned impregnable, received a Scottish garrison; and 
Aberdeen being set on fire by the English, was aban- 
doned to the patriotic band. 

Every new enterprise added to the glory of his name, 
and to the number of his followers, till at last he found 
himself at the head of a numerous army. 

Well aware that they should meet with no mercy at 
the hands of Edward, who would treat them as rebel- 
lious subjects, the Scots were rendered desperate, 
and, by necessity, forced to the cruel expedient of put- 
ting to the sword every Englishman that they found in 
arms. King Edward, then in France, ordered the earl 
of Surrey to suppress this daring insurrection. An 
army of forty-thousand, led on by lord Henry Percy, 
marched against Wallace. They found him advantage- 
ously posted near Irwin. 

But the jealousy and discontent of the nobles ruined 
their cause : they saw with envy the growing reputation 
and authority of a private gentleman ; confusion and 
irresolution ensued : in short, the most eminent made 
their submission and obtained their pardon from Ed- 
ward's officers. Wallace and his faithful band scornful- 
ly refused to follow his fickle associates, declaring they 
would never lay down their arms till the country was 
restored to liberty and independence. They even har- 
rassed the rear of the English army, but were repulsed 
with the loss of a thousand men. 

Still undaunted and unsubdued, Wallace retreated 
northwards, where he was joined by new adherents. 

When Warrene advanced to Stirling, he found Wal- 
lace encamped in excellent order on the opposite bank 
of the Forth. Willing to try again the same arts of ne- 
gotiation, he sent two friars to Wallace to offer condiU 
aons of peace. 



Scotland- 245 

" Go, (said Wallace) tell your masters, we came 
not here to treat, but to assert our rights, and to set 
Scotland free ; let them advance, they will find us pre- 
pared." 

Indignant at this defiance, Crepingham, at the head 
of his forces, prepared to cross the river by a wooden 
bridge that was laid over it. Wallace slowly led down his 
troops, and advanced to meet them ; but ere half the 
army had passed, he attacked them before they could 
form ; put them to rout, and obtained a complete vic- 
tory. 

This success merited to Wallace the title of Guardian ; 
but he still acknowledged the captive king Baliol. Fa- 
mine, the unavoidable consequences of so long a civil 
war, now threatened Scotland. Wallace led his troops 
into England, in order to subsist at the expence of the 
enemy ; and having met with no opposition, returned 
in triumph, loaded with booty. 

This was to be the last of Wallace's successful enter- 
prises. 

King Edward returned from France, and marched 
into Scotland at the head of seventy thousand men. No- 
thing could save the Scots but an entire union among 
themselves. The elevation of Wallace was still an ob- 
ject of envy to the nobles. Sensible of their discontent, 
the patriotic hero voluntarily resigned his authority. 

The chief command now devolved on the steward of 
Scotland and the cumyn of Badenock. Wallace only 
retained one corps that refused to fight under any other 
leader. The English army came up with them near 
Falkirk. 

The Scottish bowmen were soon driven off the field 
by the English archers, who surpassed those of odier 
nations. The pikemen, cooped up in their entrench- 
ments, were so galled by the arrows, that they were 
thrown into disorder; in short, the whole Scottish 
army was broken and dispersed with great slaughter. 
Wallace's military skill and presence of mind enabled 



246 History of all Nations* 

him to keep his troops entire, and, retreated behind the 
Carron, he marched in safety along its banks. 

Young Bruce, then serving in the English army, de- 
sired a conference with him from the opposite side of the 
river. He represented to him the folly of continuing so 
bloody and fruitless a contest with a powerful monarch, 
and endeavoured to bend the inflexible spirit of Wal- 
lace to submission, insinuating that nothing but ambi- 
tion could prompt him to continue in arms. 

The hero disclaimed any ambitious views, but re- 
proached Bruce for his degeneracy and indolence. — 
*' To you," said he, " are owing the miseries of your 
country. You left her overwhelmed with woes, and I 
undertook the cause you betrayed — a cause which I 
shall maintain as long as I breathe ; while you live with 
ignominy, and court the chains of a foreign tyrant." 

These sentiments sunk deep into the mind of Bruce, 
and at last produced that heroism which made him a wor- 
thy successor of Wallace, in the deliverance ot his 
country. 

After this we find no trace of Wallace in the Scottish 
historians for two years. Some pretend that he went 
over to France ; others, that he still ranged among the 
hills: be that as it may, Edwardyvith much ado completed 
at last the conquest of Scotland, without being able to 
sieze or subdue the patriotic knight. 

Disappointed in all his schemes for that purpose, he 
did not disdain to stoop to treachery— Sir William was 
basely betrayed by a traitor in whom he trusted, and was 
sent in chains to London ; here he was tried as a rebel 
against a sovereign whom he had never acknowledged, 
and whose power was founded on tyranny and injustice. 
All this and more was urged by Wallace in his defence : 
his remonstances were disregarded, -and he was condemn- 
ed to suffer the death of a traitor, which sentence was 
put in execution, to the indelible disgrace of Edward's 
memory. This was the unworthy fate of a hero who, 
through a course of many years, had w r ith signal con- 
duct, intrepidity, and perseverance, defended the liber- 



Scotland. 247 

ties of his native country against a public and oppres- 
sive enemy. 

We have been more particular in the history of this 
remarkable character than our limits would admit of in 
general. 

A person of no less illustrious fame now claims our 
attention. Robert Bruce, the restorer of the Scot- 
tish throne, and father of a new race of kings, was the 
grandson of the competitor for the crown. He was in 
the bloom of life, when he resolved to quit Edward's 
court to make good his family's claims. His motions 
were watched with a jealous eye ; yet he contrived to 
escape, and to join the Scots patriots at Lochmaben. 

Among these was Cumyn, a man of great power, 
but in whom Bruce could put no trust. Historians do 
not agree as to the causes of this difference : but the 
first act of Bruce was to murder Cumyn, which he did 
in a church at Dumfries, by stabbing him with a dag- 
ger. This violation of the sanctuary, and at least of 
the forms of justice, was what afterwards drew down 
on his head the anathemas of the church. Obliged now 
to have recourse to arms, he hastened to collect what 
forces he could, attacked the English, who where un- 
prepared, and having got possession of several castles 9 
he was solemnly crowned at Scone. 

King Edward lost no time to check this new insur- 
rection. He dispatched immediately A\mer de Val- 
ence into Scotland, who falling in with Bruce at Mith- 
ven, attacked him, and, notwithstanding a most vigo- 
rous resistance, totally defeated the Scottish army. 

Bruce fled, almost unattended, to the western isles, 
where he wandered about for some time in great dis- 
tress. 

Opportunely for his cause, Edward died on his way 
to Scotland, whither he was again conducting a nume- 
rous army. Thus delivered from a powerful enemy, 
Bruce's party daily increased. He was soon master 
of the western highlands, and after a continued train of 
success, forced Edward II. to a truce, 



248 History of all Nations. 

On the renewal of the war, Edward inarched intd 
Scotland with an army so powerful, that Bruce found it 
prudent to retire to the mountains. The English were, 
however, obliged to retreat, partly for want of provi- 
sions, and partly on account of discontents at home. 
The year following, Edward assembled his whole forces, 
amounting, say the Scottish historians, to one hundred 
thousand men. 

Robert's army did not exceed thirty thousand men ; 
but they were men of tried valour. He encamped beside 
a rivulet, called Bannock-burn, near Stirling. 

The castle being in the hands of the English, had 
been long besieged by the Scots. Edward was deter- 
mined to relieve it. He arrived in sight in the evening, 
and immediately an engagement took place between the 
two bodies of cavalry. 

In this action Robert encountered Henry de Bohun 5 
and with one' stroke of his battle-axe, cleft his adversary 
to the chin. From this favourable event, the Scots prog- 
nosticated a happy issue to the battle of the ensuing 
day. All night the troops rested on their arms. About 
dawn the English advanced to the- attack, the earl of 
Gloucester led the van, and impetuously rushed on the 
foe : the cavalry which he commanded, fell among co- 
vered pits which Bruce had prepared, and were put into 
disorder. Gloucester himself was overthrown and 
slain. Randolph on the left wing of the Scots, and 
Douglas and Walter Stewart in the centre, soon brought 
into action the corps under their command. 

The English archers greatly overmatched the Scots* 
But 500 light horsemen, detached, under Sir Robert 
Reith, armed with battle axes, dispersed or hewed them 
to pieces. All this while a great part of the English 
forces were prevented by the disadvantages of the 
ground from sharing in the engagement. Bruce, with 
the Scottish reserve, now appeared in the front of the 
battle, and at the same moment the English beheld on 
the heights what they took to be a fresh reinforcement 
arriving to the aid of the Scots. These were the at- 



Scotland. 249 

tendants of the camp, whom Bruce had ordered to appear 
in battle arrav, with colours flying. Panic- struck at the 
sight, the English gave way, and soon betook themselves 
to flight. The Scots pursued and made a great slaught- 
er. King Edward with difficulty escaped to Dunbar : 
but the flower of his nobility fell on that day, and the li- 
berty of Scotland triumphed. 

This memorable day did not however restore peace ; 
continual inroads were made on England, and even- an 
attempt on Ireland, by the warlike followers of Bruce. 

But first a parliament was convened at Ayr, where 
the rights of that hero to the crown were fully acknow- 
ledged, and the succession established. The princess 
Margery, presumptive heir of Robert, was given in 
marriage to Walter Stewart ; and their son Robert was 
afterwards king, and the first of the Stewart race. 

Edward Bruce, chosen chief of the expedition into Ire- 
land, was received as king by the Irish. Reinforced re- 
peatedly by his brother, he had penetrated to the walls 
of Dublin ; famine alone compelled him to retreat, and 
to risk his all on the fate of one day ; he fell a victim to 
his ardent valour, and was found among the dead at the 
battle of Dundalk. 

Hostilities were still carried on between the Scots and 
English with unremitting ardour. The pope thought 
himself called upon to put a stop to the effusion of hu- 
man blood : he therefore proclaimed a truce, A. D. 
1318, but his proclamation was not attended to. 

Nor was any truce agreed to till 1323. Then the 
papal legates were admitted into Scotland, where they 
pronounced sentence of excommunication against Bruce 
and the Scots. 

The barons justified their defence of their liberties ; 
their remonstrance had its effect at Rome. The holy- 
father felt that Edward had great share of the blame in 
the calamities of the war. 

It was however again renewed, and the truce of thir- 
teen years was not concluded till after two campaigns 
more. During this suspension of hostilities, Robert 

2h 



250 History of all Nations* 

obtained absolution from the sentence of excommuni- 
cation, and crushed a conspiracy at home : but on the 
deposition of king Edward, he renewed the war, wrest- 
ed at length from England a solemn renunciation of all 
claims on Scotland, and secured a peace by marrying 
his son David to Han, sister of Edward III. 

Thus ended the glorious conflict of Robert Bruce 
for the independence of his crown, after a reign of 
twenty- four years. 

A concise view of the principal towns, rivers, and most 

ancient families, in all the shires or counties in Scot- 

land. 

The shire of Merse — principal towns, Dunse and 
Lauder : rivers, the Tweed, Whitter, and Ednem. 
The most ancient families are, the Humes, Gordons, 
Spotswoods, and Wedderburns. 

Roxburgh-shire. — Towns, Zedburg, Kelso, andMel- 
ross : rivers, Tweed, Teviot, Zed, and Eal : ancient 
families, Douglasses, Scotts, Riddles, Elliots, and 
Turnbulls. 

Dumfries. — Towns, Dumfries and Annan : most 
ancient families, Maxwells and Hunters : rivers, Neth 
and Loch'ar. This county abounds with excellent 
timber, particularly the wood of Drumlanick, of good 
oak, &c. 

Wigton, or Galloway-shire. — Chief towns are, Kirk- 
cudbright and Wigton. This county is watered by 
five rivers, the Ne, Dee, Ken, Cree, and LefFee. The 
most ancient families here are, the Maxwells, Arm- 
strongs, Clendennings, Irvins, Bells, Christies, John- 
stons, Mackees, M 'Donalds, and Brodies. 

Kyle, or Ayr- shire. — The principal town in this 
county is Ayr. This town is famous for its antiquities ; 
it is thought to be the same which Ptolomy calls Vido- 
gora. The most ancient families here are, the Camp- 
bells, Hyslops, Cunninghams, Wallaces, Dunbars, and 
Murdochs. The other towns of note here are, Irwin, 



Scotland. 251 

and Largis. The latter is famous for the total defeat of 
the Norwegians by king Alexander III. 

Renfrew. — Principal towns are, Renfrew, Paisley, 
Greenock, and Port- Glasgow. Most ancient families, 
the Stuarts, Cathcarts, Shaws, and Maxwells. Rivers, 
Blackcart, Whitecart, and Grise. 

Lanerk, or Clydesdale. — The principal town here is 
Glasgow, situated in latitude 55, 52, longitude 4, 51, 
from London ; a populous and elegant city, and for 
wealth and commerce is the second in the nation ; it is 
pleasantly situated on the banks of the Clyde. The most 
ancient families in this county are, the Douglasses, Bu- 
chanans, Thomsons, Ramsays, and Hunters. Princi- 
pal river, the Clyde, which is navigable from Glasgow 
to the ocean. 

Dunbarton. — The principal town in this county is 
Dunbarton. The most ancient families are the Campbels ,' 
Napiers, Hamiltons, Newlands, and Buchanans. In 
this county the famous poet, historian, and wit, George 
Buchanan, was born. The town of Kilpatrick here, is 
famous for being the birth place of St. Patrick, arch- 
bishop of Armagh, and the apostle of the Irish nation. 

Linlithgow, or West- Lothian. The principal town 
is Linlithgow. The most ancient families are, the 
Hamiltons, Hays, Seatons, Scotts and Douglasses. 

Stirling. — The principal city here is Stirling. The 
principal rivers are, the Forth, Avon, Carron and Ban- 
nockburn. The most ancient families are, the Living- 
stons, Bruces, Murrays, Gardners, Stirlings and Gra- 
hams. 

Clackmanan shire. — The principal town Clackma- 
nan. 

The shire of Fife. — The principal town here is Saint 
Andrews, so called from the relicts of the Apostle St. 
Andrew, whose bones are said to have been brought 
hither from Patros in Peloponesus, in the year 368. — 
The other towns here are Cooper, Dunfermline, Kin- 
ross, Kinghorn and Innerkeithing. The principal ri- 
vers here are Eden and Levin. The most ancient fami- 



252 History of all Nations. 

Kilmarnock , ! lies here are'the Erskines, Lyons, Sinclairs, 
Gibsons, Barclays, Hopes, Forbesses, Woods, Colvils, 
Braces, and Lindsays. 

Perth. — The principal town here is Perth, pleasantly- 
situated on the banks of the river Tay. Dunkeld, 
another town in this county, is thought to have been the 
principal seat of the ancient Caledonians. Scoon ; in 
this county also, is the place where the kings of Scot- 
land were crowned. The principal rivers here are, 
Tay, Allan, Earn. The most ancient families are the 
Campbells,. Ruthvens, Blairs, Stuarts, and Drum- 
monds. 

Angus-shire, or Fairfax. — The principal towns here 
are Dundee, Brechin, and Forfax. The most ancient 
families, the Erskines, Kings, Mauls, Grays, Ogilvies, 
and Hunters. 

Herns, or Kincardin. — The principal towns are 
Kincardin and Stonhive. The most ancient families, 
the Keiths, Duncans, Mavors, Strahans, Burnets, and 
Smiths. 

Aberdeen- shire contains Mar, Brise, Glenmick, 
Strathdee, part of Buchan, &c. It is bounded by Gow- 
ry and Merns on the south ; by Buchan on the north ; 
Perth and Inverness shire on the west, and the German 
ocean on the east. The chief towns are New and Old 
Aberdeen ; the new town, in point of trade, popula- 
tion and elegance, is justly deemed the third town in 
Scotland. In each of these towns is a well endowed 
seminary, the one called King's college, and the other 
Mareschal college ; both are called the University of 
Aberdeen. Many gentlemen eminent for literary and 
scientific abilities, have been educated at this university. 
Among others, now living, might be mentioned, Doc- 
tors Kemp and Wilson, and James Hardie, A. M. : the 
two former have been for some years distinguished pro- 
fessors of mathematics and languages, in Columbia Col- 
lege, in the city of New-York, and the latter author of 
several useful publications. The principal rivers in 
Aberdeenshire are the Dee and Don ; two of the richest 
rivers in Britain for salmon. 



Scotland, 253 

Abeerdeen- shire abounds with all the necessaries of 
life ; the mountainous part of it affords good timber 
and pasturage, and the level part excellent wheat and 
other small grains. The most ancient families here are 
the Gordons, Erskines, Hays, Keiths, Ogilvies, Sea- 
tons and Abercrombies. 

The shire of Inverness formerly contained all the 
country from Lochleven to the Orkney islands ; it com- 
prehends, at present, Lochabar, Badenock, Strathspey, 
Stratherick, Strathglass and Glenmorrison. It is boun- 
ded by the Brae of Mar and Athol on the 'south ; by 
Argyle shire on the west; by Ross and Murray Firth on 
the east, and by the western sea on the north. The 
length of it from Inverness to Inverloky is-50 miles. 
Principal town is Inverness, which is situated on the 
south side of the river Ness, and has a commodious 
harbour. There was formerly a strong castle here, 
wherein the kings of Scotland resided. The most an- 
cient families here are the Mackenzies, Frasers,* 
Mackintoshes, Macdonalds, Grants, M'Leods, M'Pher- 
sons and Camerons. 

Bamf-shire. — The principal towns in this shire are 
Bamf, Cullen, Frazerburg, and Keith. The most ancient 
families here are the Cummings, Gordons and Aber- 
crombies. There is a cave in this county, where the 
water that drops from it turns into stone, as soon as it 
reaches the ground. 

Murray- shire, or Nearne ; the principal towns here 
are Elgin, Foress, Nearne, and Crommertie ; the largest 
rivers are the Spey, Nearne, and Findorn, the first 
mentioned is the most rapid river in Europe. The 
most ancient families, here are, the Brodies, M'lntosh- 
es, Roses, Dunbars, Grants, Stuarts, Frasers and 
M'Kenzies. 



* The Frasers emigrated thither from France nine hundred and sixty 
years ago. 



254 History of all Nations. 

Argyle-shire is bounded on the north by Lochaber ; 
on the east by Lenox ; on the West by the ocean, and 
the firth of Clyde on the south. The principal towns 
in Argyle-shire are Inverary, DunstafFnage and Cam- 
bletown. There are a number of rivers and. lakes in 
this county ; the principal lake is Lochfine, which is 
about sixty miles in length and four in breath: this 
loch is famous for the great quantity of excellent her- 
ring which are caught in it. Lochow is a fresh water 
loch, twenty-four miles long and one broad; in it 
there are twelve islands ; and from this loch the fam- 
ily of Argyle had their ancient title of Lairds of Loc- 
how. The most ancient families in this shire are the 
Campbells, Lamonds, Macdonalds, MacDougals, Mac- 
Intyres, MacQueens, MacEuens and MacFarlanes. 

Ross-shire, the principal town here is Tayn; the most 
ancient families in this shire are the M'Kenzies (who 
emigrated thither from Ireland in the fifth century) 
Munros, Rosses, Bethunes, and Dunbars. 

Sutherland- shire, chief town here is Dornock. — 
Dunrobin castle, the principal seat of the Earl of Suth- 
erland, is situated in this county, upon a mote near 
the sea. The most ancient families here are the Suth- 
erlands, Mackays, Gordons, Glanguns or Gunns, Mur- 
rays and Grays. This county in general is fruitful in 
corn and pasturage ; and abounds with fish, fowl, sheep, 
black cattle and deer. The vallies are very pleasant 
and well inhabited ; and what proves the climate and 
soil to be much better than could be expected, from its 
northerly situation, is, that saffron grows very well here 
and comes to maturity. Here are many commodious 
harbours for exporting the commodities of the country, 
which are corn, salt, salmon, beef, wool, hides, butter, 
cheese, tallow, &c. All that tract of land lying be- 
tween Portnecouter and Dunsbay, is called Caithness. 
The principal towns in Caithness are Weik and Thur- 
so. At Dunsbay-head in the north east of Caithness 
is the ferrv to Orknev. 



Ireland. 255 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 
IRELAND. 

Ireland, called also Hibernia and Erin, is situated to 
the west of Great-Britain ; and for salubrity of air, fer- 
tility of soil hospitality and intrepidity of its inhabitants, 
is excelled by no country on earth. 

The pride of ancestry has a peculiar effect upon the 
Irish. No nation, in fact, now in existence, can boast 
of such certain and remote antiquity. It has been a 
mean and pitiful prejudice of some English, and other 
writers, to endeavour to throw discredit upon the early 
parts of the Irish history. That many fabulous ac- 
counts are to be met with in the Irish annals, is undoubt- 
edly true ; but the possession at this present hour of a 
vernacular language ', which was in general use above three 
thousand years ago, is a strong coroboration of their an- 
cient decent, that the people of Ireland can singly boast 
among all the nations of the universe.* 



* The ingenious and learned colonel Vallancey has given an accurate 
collation of the Punic speeches with*the Irish as now spoken. The cu- 
rious reader will be gratified with the following' specimen of this wonder- 
ful similarity, or rather identity, of the Phoenician and Irish languages. 

Carthaginian. 

Bythlym mothymnocto thij nelechthanti diasmachon, 

Irish. 

Beithliom ! mo thyme noctaithe niel aitheanti 

English. 

Be with me ! My real fears are unknown. 



I am of opinion that the Erse spoken by the Scots Highlanders, and the 
Welsh, were originally the same with the Irish, from their great analogy 
therewith, having frequently conversed with Irishmen and Welshmen in 
their native tongue. During the prevalence of the yellow fever in the city of 
New-York in 1798, a vessel arrived here from Europe, withanumberof pas- 
sengers from Wales. Some of them landed near the State Prison. I happen- 
ed to be present, among others, and conceiving them to be Irish, I spoke to 
one of them in the Irish tongue. He shook his head, signifying that he did 
not understand me. I then spoke to him in English, but he could not speak 
a word. Having givea a sixpence to 9, little boy who was with him, he 



256 History of all Nations. 

There appears no reason to doubt that the ancestors 
of the Irish were Scythians; or, as they were afterwards 
called, Phoenicians. That the Carthaginians were a 
Phoenician colony, has never been doubted, and like 
other colonies they carried their language with them. 

Besides the common use of the Phoenician language 
by the native Irish, there are other proofs, which make 
it no longer doubtful, that a Phoenician colony settled tn 
Ireland. The warlike instruments which have been 
found in Ireland exactly resemble the weapons discov- 
ered aboutCaunse, some of which are in the British Mu- 
seum : the brazen swords and spears are the same form 
and substance, being a composition of brass and tin. 
Proofs of the similarity of habit, manners, and customs, 
between the colony and the mother country, might be 
adduced from the historians of each. Suffice it howe- 
ver to remark, that to this day the Irish peasants have 
an annual custom of lighting upon certain hills, on the 
eve of midsummer, what they still call Bel's fire, though 
totally ignorant that Bel was the God of their Phoenician 
ancestors. 

All historians agree that hordes of Scythians em- 
igrated to Egypt, and from thence to Spain; and there 



thanked me in a way similar to what a Highland hoy would have done on a 
like occasion. This induced me to address the father in Erse ; he replied to 
jne with seeming great joy : we made out to understand each other tolera- 
bly well, and when we parted, he remarked, that I must have left Wales 
when young, as I spoke Welsh very ill ! 

Being struck with this seeming affinity of the Erse and Welsh tongues, I 
obtained a translation of the following sentence into Welsh, by the reverend 
Mr. Williams, and into Erse, by Mr. John M'Intyre, of this city. 

Welsh. 

Bydd gida mi ! mau fy ofnau widi ei dat giddio, nid oes genuff' un dibea 
arall ond gwaradigaeth fy merch. 

Erse. 

Bithiah learn ! tha aover m'eagil follachadh, cha n'eil rane eil agam ach 
jno nigheanan chu antkaca. 

English. 

Be with me ! my fears being discovered, I have no other intention but 
recovering my daughter. 



Ireland. 1S1 

has been no one objection of any force brought against 
the Irish annalists, who are unanimous in their asser- 
tions that a colony of these Scythians from Spain settled 
in Ireland. The Irish have always prided themselves 
upon having kept up a longer succession of monarchs 
than any other kingdom in the world. This race of 
kings they call Milesian, all of them having descended 
from Heber, Eremore, and Ith, the three sons of 
Milesius, who headed the expedition from Spain. 

It is certain that Ireland was colonized by a civilized, 
a learned, and warlike people, nearly one thousand 
years before the birth of Christ : and that during that 
period they were characterized by their robust frame of 
body, by their valour, by their pride of ancestry, by 
the strength of their imagination, and their enthusiastic 
love of glory. 

The obscurity, however of this period ended with 
the introduction of Christianity ; when a new set of 
historians or annalists sprang up, new repositories of 
learning were established, foreign connections were 
much extended, and the learned languages were 
brought into use. All respectable writers ancient and 
modern agree, that the gospel was first preached in 
Ireland by St. Patrick, who was sent thither with twenty- 
other missionaries by Celestine bishop of Rome, in the 
fifth century of the Christian asra. Whether the facility 
with which the divine doctrines of the missionaries 
were propagated was, as some assert, in a great degree 
owing to the superior state of letters and other civil cul- 
tivation in Ireland, is now difficult to determine. The 
fact however is certain, that in no land did the Gospel 
make such rapid progress, or was so slightly opposed at 
its first introduction : and it is remarkable that within 
the short space of five years after St. Patrick had opened 
his mission, he was summoned to sit and assist in the 
convention or parliament of Tarah. He was appoint- 
ed of the famous committee of Nine, to whom was 
entrusted the reform of the ancient civil history of the 
nation, so as to render it instructive to posterity. — 

2 i 



258 History of all Nations. 

Christian schools and seminaries were established in 
opposition to those of the Druids ; and Paganism de- 
clined in proportion as the institutions and doctrines of 
Christianity nourished ; insomuch that from the fifth to 
the latter end of the ninth century the Irish nation was 
pre-eminently distinguished in Europe as the chief seat 
of literature and science. Venerable Bede not only 
confirms this fact, but states, that the youth of the most 
respectable families of every nation in Europe were sent 
to Ireland to receive their education, on account of the 
pre-excellence of the learning of the Irish clergy. The 
same writer adds, that such of the Anglo Saxons as 
went over to Ireland, either for education, improvement,, 
or for an opportunity of living up to the strict ascetic 
discipline, were maintained, taught and furnished with 
books, without fee or reward. Several illustrious per- 
sons received their education there. Among the other 
virtues which the establishment of Christianity fostered 
and extended among the Irish, the generous spirit of 
hospitality, for which from the earliest periods they 
were characterised, was peculiarly enforced. " The 
most holy men of heaven," say the Irish laws, " were re- 
markable for hospitality ; and the gospel commands us 
to receive the sojourner, to entertain him, and to relieve 
his wants." We have thus seen that the Irish were a 
people endowed with great powers of body and mind, 
lovers of the arts and sciences, and enthusiastic encour- 
agers of talents, attached to religion and its ministers, 
and in a word, super-eminently gifted by nature with all 
those active principles of public virtue, which, if pro- 
perly directed, insure the attainment of national happi- 
ness, prosperity, and importance. But unfortunately it has 
ever been the bane of Ireland to be distracted with civil 
discord. 

The latter part of the Irish history, immediately pre- 
ceding the invasion of the kingdom by the English, 
presents one continued scene of intestine dissention, tur- 
bulence, and faction. They experienced during several 
centuries, the miserable effects resulting from their want 



Ireland. 259 

of union among themselves, in the success of the re- 
peated formidable invasions of their island by the Danes, 
Norwegians, and other Scandinavian adventurers, who 
roved about in search of settlements. Ireland became 
to these piratical hordes a most inviting object, as the 
country was fertile, and the inhabitants by their intes- 
tine divisions rendered feeble defenders of their soil. 
Such was the situation of Ireland, with little variation of 
feature in its history, during a period of nearly four hun- 
dred years. About the year of Christ 1166, Roderick 
O'Connor, of undoubted Milesian stock, was raised to 
the monarchy, with the general consent of the nation. 
His prospect of a happy reign was soon clouded by the 
revolt of several petty kings and princes who had sworn 
allegiance to him. 

Scarcely had he reduced them to obedience, when he 
was called upon by O'Rourke, king of Breffny, to assist 
him in avenging himself of Dermod, king of Leinster, 
by whom he had been grossly injured. While O'Rourke 
was absent on a pilgrimage, his wife, who had long con- 
ceived a criminal passion for the king of Leinster, eloped 
with him, and lived in public adultery. There could 
not have existed a greater excitement to revenge in the 
breast of an Irish prince, whose spotless purity of blood 
was their highest glory. O'Rourke succeeded in rous- 
ing the monarch to avenge his cause, and immediately 
led a powerful force to his assistance. The whole king- 
dom took fire at the perfidy and iniquity of Dermod, 
who looked in vain for support from his own subjects. 
He was hated for his tyranny; and the chieftains of 
Leinster not only refused to enlist under his banner in 
such a cause, but openly renounced their allegiance, 
Dermod, thus deserted by his subjects, was inflamed 
with rage at the disappointment, and resolved to sacri* 
fice every thing to the gratification of his personal re- 
venge. Unable to meet the approaching storm, he took 
shipping secretly, and repaired to Henry II. of Eng- 
land, who was then in France, to solicit his protection 
•and aid in accomplishing his revengeful intention. 



26® History of all Nations. 

Dermod made a most humiliating address, and cant- 
ing hypocritical representation of his sufferings, to 
Henry, whom he found in Aquitaine ; promising that if 
through his powerful interposition he should recover 
his lost dominions, he would hold them in vassalage of 
Henry and his successors forever. Such an offer accord- 
ed well with the ambitious views of the British mon- 
arch ; but his situation at that time prevented him from 
engaging personally in the cause of the guilty fugitive. 
He, however, encouraged him by promises of vigorous 
support, and gave him letters of credit and service to 
such of his subjects as might be willing to assist him in 
the recovery of his dominions. With these credentials 
Dermod repaired to Bristol, which was in those days the 
chief port of communication between England and 
Ireland. 

Invasion and Conquest of Ireland, under Henry II in 

1172.* 

That Henry had conceived the design of invading 
Ireland previously to the degrading application of Der- 
mod, is unquestionable. A very superficial knowledge 
of the state of Ireland at that period was sufficient to ex- 
cite the ambition of a powerful and popular sovereign, 
in those days, when it was deemed reproachful to a prince 
to be unemployed in some scheme of gallant enter- 
prize. 

A pretence alone was wanting to give some colour of 
justice to the design ; and the courtiers of Henry were 
fertile in their invention of imaginary claims to the 
throne of Ireland, which they asserted the kings of Eng- 
land possessed by inheritance from the time of Arthur, 
or even earlier. 

At the period, however, of Dermod's application, 
Henry was engaged in suppressing the insurrection of 



Six hundred and thirty -five years ago. 



Ireiana. 261 

his brother Geoffry, and in supporting his own claims 
to Anjou. He had a sufficient employment for his abi- 
lities in regulating his own affairs in England. The un- 
settled state of Wales at this period, and the long and 
painful contest which Henry maintained against Thomas 
Becket and the church, were additional motives to in- 
duce the ambitious monarch to suspend the execution 
of his designs against Ireland, which would probably 
never have been put in execution, had not accident, or 
rather the factions and competitions of an unorganised 
people, opened a way for the English arms to penetrate 
and subdue their distracted country. Henry, though 
invested with papal authority for the purpose, would 
perhaps never have invaded Ireland, had not the intes- 
tine broils of the Irish princes, or kings, as they were 
termed, severed those resources which ought to have 
been united for defence, and driven Dermod to invite 
that interference of a foreign power, which ever is, and 
must be fatal to the liberties and independence of a 
nation. 

Such was the situation of Ireland, when Dermod 
proffered at the feet of the English monarch to hold his 
dominions in vassalage of him, and acknowledge him his 
liege lord, if by his means he should himself be rein- 
stated in them. This flattering petition awakened the 
slumbering hopes of Henry, and revived the pleasing 
ideas which he had formerly conceived of conquering 
Ireland. 

His own immediate affairs were, however, still much 
perplexed. Becket had then recently afforded him a 
further proof of his violence and obstinacy, while the in- 
surrection of his subjects in the provinces of France, 
secretly fomented by Lewis, engaged him incessantly in 
war and negociation. It was therefore his obvious po- 
licy to act as he did, and to receive the proffered alle- 
giance of the Irish prince in a gracious manner, to give 
him every encouragement and assurance short of his per- 
sonal appearance in his cause, and to grant him those 
letters of licence and credence to his subjects in Eng- 



262 History of all Nations. 

land, who might be willing to adventure on an expedition 
against Ireland, under the banners of king Dermod. 
The fugitive prince, highly elated with his reception, 
repaired from Aquitame to England, and upon his arri- 
val at Bristol made public the letters of Henry, repeated 
his piteous story, and lavished promises upon all who 
would aid the friend and vassal of their sovereign. The 
cause or character of Dermod must, doubtless, have ob- 
tained a bad report in England, or such was the spirit 
of enterprise and adventure in these days, the days of 
the crusades, that but for such a reason, it may be pre- 
sumed multitudes would have flocked to his standard, 
whereas not one individual was found to listen to his 
flattering promises, or to take arms in his cause. 

A month elapsed without any prospect of obtaining 
succours, and Dermod began to abandon all hopes of re- 
storation, when he was persuaded to address himself to 
Richard, earl of Pembroke, surnamed Strongbow, on 
account of his skill in archery. Richard was distin- 
guished by his military genius as much as by his station 
and alliances : he was attended by a powerful train of 
followers, whose affection he had gained by his courtesy 
and generosity ; but being estranged from the royal fa- 
vour, and retired and unemployed, his fortune dissipat- 
ed, his distresses urgent, and his prospects gloomy, be 
was pointed out to Dermod as likely to comply with his 
overtures, and the Irish prince accordingly pressed him 
with the most urgent solicitations. He even engaged to 
give him his daughter Eva in marriage, and to make 
him heir of his kingdom, though sensible by the ancient 
customs of his country he had no power to nominate his 
heirs. Richard was overcome by these seducing offers, 
and agreed to assist Dermod with a considerable force 
in the ensuing spring, provided he could obtain the 
king's particular license and approbation. 

Elevated by the success of this negotiation, Dermod 
conceived that he had already most effectually provided 
for his restoration; and proceeded to St. David's, in 
South Wales, intending to return privately to Ireland. 



Ireland. 263 

In Wales he added to his adherents, Robert Fitz- Ste- 
phen, an active, brave, and skilful soldier, who con- 
sented to engage, with all his followers, in the service of 
Dermod, who, on his part, promised to cede to Fitz- 
Stephen and Maurice Fitzgerald, the entire dominion of 
the town of Wexford, with a large adjoining territory, 
as soon as he should be reinstated in his rights. Such 
was the origin of an invasion, which in the event proved 
of so great importance. A criminal and despised fugi- 
tive, driven from his province by faction and revenge, 
obtained in this manner the assistance of a few adventu- 
rers in Wales, whom youthful valour, and ruined for- 
tune, led to seek for advantageous settlements in Ireland. 
In the mean time Dermod embarked in disguise for Ire- 
land, where he landed in safety ; and, passing through 
the quarters of his enemies, spent the winter in the mo- 
nastry at Ferns, which he himself had founded. Here 
he occupied himself in preparations for the intended in- 
vasion in the ensuing spring, when the promised suc- 
cours were to be sent from England. They did arrive, 
and, after various turns of fortune, Dermod was rein- 
stated in his ancient rights. 

The British forces employed in this expedition have 
been variously stated ; but the largest number named 
is three thousand, including the adherents of Dermod, 
who joined them after their landing. This force has 
been represented by some writers in such formidable 
colours as if nothing in Ireland could stand against it ;. 
but experience has sufficiently evinced the incalculable 
advantages of discipline over strength and valour. The 
Irish nation did not in fact oppose this invasion; but 
separate septs or families made each a separate resistance, 
and their divided efforts were of course of no avail. It 
is also well authenticated that several chiefs sent over 
deputies to invite Henry to Ireland : the men of Wex- 
ford, O'Bryan of Thomond, and all the inferior chiefs 
of Munster, vied with each other in the alacrity of their 
submission. Henry, jealous of the successful progress 
of his own subjects, sent orders to recall all the Eng- 



264 History of all Nations. 

lish, and made preparations to attack Ireland in person 
(1172.) He at length landed in that Island at ihe head 
of five hundred knights besides other soldiers ; but so 
dispirited were the Irish, that in his progress he had 
nothing more to do than to receive the homage of his new- 
subjects. He left most of the native princes in posses- 
sion of their territories, invested the earl of Pembroke 
with the government of Ireland, and returned in triumph 
to England Yet notwitfistanding the apparent submis- 
sion which the English monarch had received in all parts 
of Ireland, he had not by his expedition won one heart 
to his interest, or added one true and loyal subject to 
the number of those whom he found there on his land- 
ing. 

The Irish chieftains waited only for a favourable op- 
portunity of openly disavowing their submission ; and 
when the earl of Pembroke retired into Ferns to sol- 
emnize the marriage of his daughter, they threw off all 
show of allegiance to Henry, and boldly denounced 
vengeance against the invaders. 

To give an account of the succeeding periods of the. 
History of Ireland, or to trace the origin and progress 
of thelastunhappy occurrences in that country, does not 
comport with the brevity of our plan. 

A concise account of the principal Towns, JRivers, £sfc. 
in Ireland. 

Ireland h divided into four grand divisions, namely, 
Leinster, Ulster, Connaught and Munster ; and sub-di- 
vided into thirty-two counties, twelve of which are in 
Leinster. Dublin County, principal city Dublin, the 
metropolis of Ireland ; and is the largest town in the 
British dominions, London excepted. It is said to 
contain upwards of two hundred thousand inhabitants. 
And is situated nearly seven miles from the sea, at the 
foot of a spacious bay, on the river Liffey. 

Louth, chief town Drogheda ; Wicklow, chief town 
Wicklow ; Wexford, principal town Wexford ; Long- 
ford, chief town Longford ; East-Meath, chief town 



Ireland. 26.5 

Trim; West-Meath, mostpopuloustown Mullingar ; 
King's-County, Philips-town is the principal ; Queen's- 
County, chief town is Maryborough ; Kilkenny, prin- 
cipal town of the same name ; Kildare, chief town 
Naas ; and Carlow, most populous town of the 
same name. 

Ulster, contains nine counties : Down, principal 
town Down Patrick ; Armagh, head town of same 
name ; Cavan, chief town of the same name; Antrim, 
Carrick Fergus ; Londonderry, chief town Deny ; 
Tyrone, head town Omagh; Fermanagh, head town 
Enniskillen, and Donegal, principal town Lifford. 

Connaught has five counties, namely, Leitrim, chief 
town Carrick ; Roscommon, head town of the same 
name ; Mayo, chief towns Castlebar and Ballinrode ; 
Sligo, head town bears the same name ; Galiow, head 
town Galiow. 

Munster, has six counties ; Clare, head town Ednis ; 
Cork, principal town Cork. The city of Cork lies 
about one hundred and thirty miles south-west from. 
Dublin on the banks of the river Lee, and for popula- 
tion, wealth and commerce is reckoned the second in 
Ireland. The county of Kerry, head town Tralee ; 
Limerick, chief town of the same name ; Tipperary, 
head town Clonmell ; Waterford, chief town of the 
same name. Waterford is a town of very considerable 
trade, and a place of great strength. Belfast, Limerick 
and Londonderry are handsome towns and carry on a 
considerable trade. This country abounds with charm- 
ing lakes, spacious bays and excellent harbours ; the 
Shannon is the largest river in Ireland, and runs a course 
of 150 miles from its source, at Lough Allen in Lei- 
trim, till it falls into the atlantic ocean at Kerry point ; 
the other rivers here are the Boyne, the LifFee, the Ban, 
the Barrow, the Nore and the Suin. 

The nobility and most wealthy class of people in Ire- 
land in their language, dress and manners cannot be said 
to differ, but very little, if any, from those of the same 
rank in England. The poorer sort of people in Ireland 

2k 



266 History of all Nations: 

differ something in their mode of living and customs, 
from the lower class of people in England. 

Some writers have erroneously asserted, that the 
best informed people in Ireland always retain a disagree- 
able tone in their pronunciation. This I know from 
personal observation, to, be ill-founded* having convers- 
ed with gentlemen from that country who, in my hum- 
ble opinion, pronounced the English language with great 
accuracy. Indeed, the author of the English standard 
of pronunciation, Mr. Sheridan, was an Irishman. I 
am not a native of Ireland, and therefore cannot justly 
be supposed to be over partial to that nation ; yet I was 
sorry to meet with the following invidious remark in a 
book which has, in a few years, passed through thir- 
teen editions in Europe and America: " The common 
Irish, in their manner of living, seem to resemble the 
ancient Britons, as described by Roman authors, or the 
present Indian inhabitants of America ! !" Hence* ac- 
cording to this writer's opinion, the difference betwixt 
the higher and lower class of the Irish people, must be 
vastly great indeed ! Since* among the former, we 
find an archbishop Usher, a Boyle* a dean Swift, an 
O'Leary, a Steele, a Sterne, a Parnel, a Goldsmith, a 
Berkley, a Grattan, a Montgomery, &c. While the 
lower class of people in Ireland are represented to be 
no more refined at the present day* than the Britons 
were two thousand years ago* or the tawny sons of the 
Birdtail king among the Cherokees, or the Little Tur- 
tle's tribe among the Mohawks. And yet we are told 
by the learned Mr. Camden (who was not an Irish- 
man) that " the Irish scholars of St. Patrick profited so 
nobly in Christianity, that in the succeeding age, Ire- 
land was termed Sanctorum Patria. Their monks so 
greatly excelled in piety and learning, that they sent a 
number of learned men into all parts of Europe, who 
were the founders of Abbies in Italy, Switzerland, 
France and Britain." Bede says, that about the mid- 
dle of the seventh century, many nobles and others of 
the Anglo-Saxons, retired from their own country and 



Ireland. 267 

went to Ireland for instruction, and that the Scots (as he 
styles the Irish) maintained them, taught them and fur- 
nished them with books gratis — " A most honorable 
testimony, says Lord Lyttleton, not only of the learning 
but also of the hospitality and bounty of the Irish na- 
tion." 

Dr. Mavor thus concludes his history of Ireland. 

The benefits of a political union of Ireland with Great 
Britain (which we sincerely hope may be perfectly real- 
ized) have been so admirably well depicted by the bish- 
op of Landaff, that we cannot better describe them than 
in the words of the learned prelate in a debate in the 
house of Lords, on this important topic. 

" It would enrish Ireland, and would not impover- 
ish Great Britain. The consolidation of Ireland with 
this country would render it the strongest empire in 
Europe. 

Ireland, (he further observed) as a shoot from the 
stem of Great-Britain, has brought forth fruit : but that 
as a separate plant it would neither strike its root down- 
wards, nor spread its branches above: it would bear 
no fruit for at least a hundred years. It must either be 
shaded by the British oak, or it must be poisoned by the 
pestilential vapor of the tree of French liberty. Ireland 
could not stand alone. In the present state of Europe, 
she must be united either to England or France. Eng- 
lish capital would, in the event of union, seek employ- 
ment in Ireland, and diffuse improvement and wealth. 
The bogs would be converted into fruitful fields, the 
barren mountains covered with cattle, the old sources 
of wealth would be extended, new ones discovered, 
and the inhabitants be rendered rich, industrious, and 
happy." 

Coinciding, as we sincerely do, with this most elo- 
quent elucidation of the union, it is with pleasure we 
add to this just picture of the right reverend prelate, 
the sanction of a nobleman to the union, whose opinion 
on all subjects is of infinite weight, but upon the con v 



268 History of all Nations* 

cerns of Ireland, is, perhaps, preponderant to any in 
the British dominions, on account of his extensive and 
intimate knowledge of that part of the empire, as well 
as the sound wisdom and unimpeachable integrity which 
are his characteristics. The earl of Moira declared 
that his early objections to the union were in a great 
measure removed by the kite determination of the Irish 
parliament ; and he was ready to admit, that the points 
of detail were founded, for the most part, on just and 
equitable principles. 

With such an exalted testimony of the justice of the 
execution of this great national measure, and with such 
a display of its general advantages, we conclude this his- 
tory of Ireland. In reviewing the annals of this brave and 
generous people, if we have erred, it has not been from 
motives of partiality to any party or to any sect It is 
indeed to be lamented, that the sacred cause of religion 
should be ever alluded to for any other purpose than the 
furtherance of piety and virtue ; for the dissemination 
among men of those duties which they owe to their 
Creator and their fellow creatures. May the happy 
event of a political union between Great-Britain and 
Ireland, which commenced with the nineteenth century, 
continue for countless centuries, unbroken by faction or 
disloyalty, a most noble monument to the world at large, 
of the blessings resulting from a true and loyal union of 
civilized brethren, enjoying the benefits of rational free- 
dom, on the basis of a constitution, which wisdom and 
virtue have consolidated, and which genuine patriotism 
defends." 

Religion. — The established religion and ecclesiasti- 
cal dicipiine of Ireland is the same with that of England : 
But, Four-fifths of the people are said to be Roman 
catholics. There are, besides, a number of Presbyte- 
rians, Baptists, Quakers and Methodists, who are all 
tolerated. 

Government. — As Ireland is subordinate to En- 
gland, the government of it is much the same. The king 
sends a viceroy, who is styled lord-lieutenant ; and who 



United States of America, 269 

comes as near the grandeur and dignity of a king, as 
any viceroy in the world. The parliament of Ireland 
previous to the union of that country with England was 
convened, prorogued, and dissolved at the pleasure of 
the king, and the laws made by the parliament were 
sent to England for the king's approbation ! 



CHAPTER XXIX. 
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

The English, conducted by John Cabot, in the year 
1497, (although the discovery has generally, but erro- 
neously, been attributed to his second son, Sabastian, 
who at that time could not have been more than twenty 
years of age) found the way to North-America soon 
after Columbus had successfully crossed the Atlantic ( 
but as the torrents in that country brought down no 
gold, and the Indians were not bedecked with any costly 
ornaments, no attempts were made to explore the coun- 
try for near a century after its dicovery. Sir Francis 
Drake, who traversed the whole circumference of the 
globe in one voyage, and in one ship, A. D. 1577, &c. 
which had never been achieved before, when afterwards 
annoying the Spaniards in the West- Indies, and on the 
main, gained some knowledge of the eastern shore of 
the northern continent, as he had before of the western 
parts on the Pacific Ocean, about the same parallel. Sir 
Walter Raleigh, however > was the first navigator who 
explored the coast, bestowed on it a name, and at- 
tempted to settle a colony, A. D. 1584; but the lands 
were overspread with thick woods, the caprices of a sa- 
vage race were to be soothed, their jealousies of new 
settlers to be removed, or their power to be opposed ; 
and, when all these difficulties should be surmounted, 
the colonists must continue subject to the first condem- 
natory sentence denounced on the human race, " by the 
sweat of their brow to eat their bread. " 



270 History of all Nations. 

At that time colonization made no part of the system 
of government, so that there were few stimulants to 
abandon a native soil for the purpose of seeking posses- 
sions in another hemisphere. At length a powerful in- 
centive arose, stronger than the influence of kings, than 
the love of ease, than the dread of misery. Religion, 
which had long been converted into the most powerful 
engine which human subtilty ever made use of to sub- 
jugate the mass of mankind, no sooner ceased to be so 
perverted, than by its own proper force it impelled large 
bodies of people to renounce every present enjoyment, 
the instinctive love of a native soil, rooted habits, and 
dearest connections, and to settle in the dreary wilds of 
a far distant continent. 

When England, by a very singular concurrence of cir- 
cumstances, threw off the papal yoke, state policy so 
predominated in the measure, that the consciences of 
men were still required to bend to the discipline, con- 
form to the cd'emonials, and assent to the doctrines 
which the governing powers established. Although a 
dissent from the church of Rome was considered as 
meritorious, yet a dissent from the church of England 
was held to be heretical, and an offence to be punished by 
the civil magistrate. The human mind, somewhat 
awakened from a long suspension of its powers by a 
Wickcliffe, farther enlightened by an Erasmus and 
Melancthon, and at length called forth into energy by 
the collision of those two ardent and daring spirits, Lu- 
ther and Calvin, then began to bend all its attention to- 
ward religious enquiries, and exercised all its powers in 
such pursuits. Hence arose a vast diversity of opinions, 
which gave rise to numerous sects and denominations 
of Christians ; but as the Protestant establishment in 
England held it essential to preserve a unity of faith, 
those novel opinions obtained no more quarter there than 
under papal power. 

The eastern coast of North America, comprehending 
a vast extent of country, was considered as of right be- 
longing to England, and was then known by no other 



* United States of America. 271 

names than those of North and South Virginia, which 
it had received from Sir Walter Raleigh. The perse- 
cuted and desperate religionists easily obtained a royal 
grant of a very extensive tract of land, whither they re- 
paired, not to amass wealth, or to exterminate the in- 
habitants, but to subsist by industry, to purchase secu- 
rity by honorable intercourse with the natives, and to 
acquire strength under the auspices of freedom. The 
establishment made by the quakers, under the conduct 
of Penn, realized these professions ; in other parts a 
spirit of intolerance too much prevailed, and insidious 
arts were practised on the Indians, which soon excited 
rancorous animosity in those tribes. The Spaniards 
had found the southern divisiou of this vast continent 
peopled with a pusillanimous and defenceless race of 
men, whom they sacriliced without scruple or remorse 
to their ambition and avarice ; the European settlers on 
the coast of North- America were not actuated by such 
a cruel and exterminating spirit ; they had juster no- 
tions of the rights of man : they also found the inhabi- 
tants of that country possessing very different character- 
istics, less numerous indeed than toward the south, but 
subsisting by hunting, expert in the use of offensive 
weapons, sagacious, persevering, not insensible of kind- 
nesses conferred, but implacable when offended, and 
ever gratifying their revenge by means the most artful,, 
concealed, and cruel. An acquaintance with Europe- 
ans has ever been baneful to uncivilized communities in 
all parts of the globe. These Indians soon discovered 
a fondness for spirituous liquors, with which the artful 
traders were too ready to supply them ; by the exces- 
sive use of these, their natural ferocity had been increas- 
ed, their passions inflamed, their best principles pervert- 
ed, diseases never before known introduced, their lives 
shortened, and their numbers rapidly reduced. 

The attention and assistance which Great-Britain gave 
to these colonies increased with the increasing commer- 
cial spirit of the nation ; indeed the English Americans 
may be said to have been, like Minerva, born adult : no 



11% History of all hat'tons-, 

age of barbarism involved in obscurity and ignorance 
the early period of their existence. Arts and sciences 
were cultivated ere their woods were cleared ; their 
minds were enlarged without their manners being de- 
praved. The fostering hand of Great- Britain nursed 
the rising genius of the colonies, and an immense ex- 
panse of country taught them to contemplate on 
futurity with exultation. Their towns were built far 
from the din of war ; their people had multiplied amidst 
the blessings of peace ; their situation and employments 
rendered them robust and enterprising, without becom- 
ing sanguinary. The inroads of the Indians, those 
aborigines, whose territory they had in most instances 
rather seized upon than honorably purchased, were con- 
lined to their back settlements, and served to keep them 
attentive without endangering the general safety. The 
apprehensions from the encroachments of the French 
were dispelled soon after they had been seriously enter- 
tained, and the fortunate termination of that four years 
conflict served to teach them to value a security which 
then became permanent. Civil commotions and intes- 
tine wars have stained with blood every kingdom and 
state, both in ancient and modern times : the Americans 
were not to expect an exemption from the common lot 
of humanity ; and the time at length arrived, when the 
horrors and desolations of war were to overspread the 
country. 

Perhaps no event in the history of the world has been 
more important than the revolution in America, which 
the contentions between the mother country and the 
colonies produced, by the erection of so many indepen- 
dent, but confederate republics on that continent. The 
pursuits of America must now be directed to different 
objects. Whilst colonists, they were perhaps become 
too much a commercial people; as states, agriculture 
will demand their first and chief attention. The im- 
mense country to the westward is now likely to be 
brought much sooner into a state of cultivation than if 
they had continued colonies ; population may be expect- 



United States of America. i 273 

ed to advance in a proportion hitherto unknown ; and, 
among a people enjoying such advantages, the human 
mind ought to be exercised, and its powers enlarged, 
without being depraved; simplicity of manners, uncon- 
taminated by the impatience of becoming rich, 'should 
prevail; and the favoured Americans be known as a 
people exemplary for integrity in their dealings, for hon- 
our, and public virtue. 

Boundaries.] By the definitive treaty of peace 
between the king of Great Britain and the United States 
of America, which was executed at Paris, on the 3d of 
September, 1783, the boundaries of these states are 
fixed to extend on the N. from Nova- Scotia, across the 
four great lakes of Ontario, Eric, Huron, and Su erior, 
assigning to the states the southern half of each, and in 
the latter the islands Royal and Phillipeaux : lake Mi- 
chigan they possess entire : though these lakes have 
ever been considered as making a part of Canada, and 
no new regulation of limits has excluded them. This 
boundary is farther extended through the centre of the 
lake of the Woods to its most western point. It may- 
be supposed that a want of acquaintance with he geo- 
graphy of the country has caused it to be added ' ' from 
thence on a due West course to the river Mississippi :'» 
for if the boundary is carried due West, it will reach 
the Pacific Ocean, about one degree of latitude South 
of Nootka Sound. The line, in order to touch the 
Mississippi, should have been carried from the western 
side of the lake of the Woods due South. In conse- 
quence of this inaccuracy no boundary is settled through- 
out a space of near three degrees of latitude ; it being 
resumed along the middle of the river Mississippi to 
thirty-one degrees North latitude, where that river be- 
gins to divide West Florida from Louisiana. The Ameri- 
can States are bounded on the South by the two Flori- 
das. They possess all the eastern coast from die mouth 
of the river St. Croix, in the bay of Fundy, to St. 
Mary's river, which divides Georgia from East Florida, 

2 L 



274 History of all Nations * 

and all islands within twenty leagues of any part of the 
shore. 

The states with whom the king of Great-Britain con- 
cluded this treaty, were, New -Hampshire, Massachu- 
setts-Bay, Rhode-Island with Providence Plantations, 
Connecticut, New- York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North- Carolina, South- 
Carolina, and Georgia. 

These states, in their fullest extent, comprise eigh- 
teen degrees of latitude, and thirty-three degrees of 
longitude ; they are described as being 1250 miles in 
length, and 1030 in breadth: reaching from thirty -one 
degrees to forty -nine degrees North latitude, and from 
fifty-one degrees to eighty-four degrees West longitude 
from Greenwich ; but as the Americans have fixed their 
meridian at the city of Philadelphia, the extent in longi- 
tude from that city is, from nine degrees East to twenty- 
four degrees West. 

Although the longitudinal extent is laid down to be 
nearly double to the latitudinal, yet the limits are so in- 
tersected on the northward, that toward the N. W. coast 
it lies in forty-five degrees, except a small district of 
land, which reaches to almost forty-seven degrees ; 
but in the interior country, on lake Erie, the boundary 
is on forty -two degrees: its greatest extent is on the 
coast, toward the N. E. where only it is 49 degrees. Its 
longitudinal extent, from New England on the E. to a 
little below r Nootka Sound on the W. comprehends the 
whole continental breadth, from the Atlantic to the Pa- 
cific Ocean ; and it is only in that part that its breadth is 
1030 miles. 

Mr. Hutchins, the late geographer of the United 
States, computed that the surface contained within the 
boundaries so described, is one million of square miles, 
which comprehends six hundred and forty millions of 
acres ; and he computes that of these, forty-one millions 
are water, or about tw^o twenty-fifth parts of the whole : 
so that the land within the United States amounts to 
five hundred and eighty-nine millions of acres ; about 



United States of America. 27 5 

three-fifths of which is comprised within the states 
which now compose the union ; the remaining two hun- 
dred and twenty millions of acres, which lie West of the 
northern and middle states, and N. W. of the river 
Ohio, and extend to the river Mississippi, together with 
an extensive territory South of the Ohio, originally ce- 
ded to the United States by North Carolina, South 
Carolina, and Georgia, form what is usually denomi- 
nated " the western territory. " 

Government. — A general Congress was first held 
at Philadelphia, in September 1774, and was composed 
of delegates chosen by the houses of representatives of 
each of the twelve old colonies ; Georgia alone being 
unrepresented in that assembly, but it afterwards acceded, 
and the number of members then amounted to fifty-four, 
and a president; two years after, the number was redu- 
ced to forty-eight. In this assembly each colony had 
no more than a single voice, whether its deputation was 
more or less numerous : so that a contrariety of opin- 
ion among the deputies from any particular colony, if the 
majority were in favour of the measure, did not occasion 
a dissenting voice in the congress ; the sense of any 
colony could not be taken if its deputies were equally 
divided in their opinions : which was likely frequently 
to occur, as seven of the colonies sent either two or four 
deputies ; the other five were represented by three, five, 
seven, or nine, 

In the year 1776 Congress, by a solemn act, renoun- 
ced allegiance to the king of Great Britain, and declared 
the American colonies to be Independent States. In 
March, 1781, articles of confederation were ratified; 
and the style of the confederation was settled to be " Uni- 
ted States of America." 

The old confederation was essentially defective, being 
destitute of almost every principle necessary to give ef- 
fect to legislation. 

In the month of May, A. D. 17S7, delegates from all 
the states, except Rhode- Island, assembled at Philadel- 



276 History of all Nations. 

phia, called the general convention, and chose general 
Washington president. After four months deliberation, 
the convention agreed to recommend the plan of a fede- 
ral government. 

As soon as the federal constitution was submitted to 
the legislatures of the several states, they proceeded to 
take measures for collecting the sense of the people 
upon the propriety of adopting it. In 1789, it was ra- 
tified by the conventions of eleven of the original thirteen 
states ; and shortly after North Carolina and Rhode- 
Island acceded to the union. 

The constitution having been ratified by the states 
and senators, and representatives having been chosen 
agreeably to the articles of it, they met at New- York, 
and commenced their proceedings. The old congress 
and confederation expired, and a new one, with more 
ample powers, and a new constitution, partly national, 
and partly federal, succeeded in their place, to the great 
joy of all who wished for the happiness of the United 
States. 

Though great diversity of opinions had prevailed 
about the new constitution, there was but one opinion 
about the person who should be appointed its supreme 
executive officer. All parties turned their eyes on the 
late commander of their armies, as the most proper per- 
son to be their first president. Unambitious of farther 
honours, he had retired to a farm in Virginia, and hoped 
to be excused from all future public services. However, 
that honest zeal for the public good that had uniformly 
influenced him, overcame his love of retirement, and 
induced him to undertake the office. 

The intelligence of his election being communicated 
to him, while on his farm, like the great Cincinnatus of 
old, he set out for New- York. A day was fixed, soon 
after his arrival, for taking the oath of office, which 
was in the following words: " I do solemnly swear, 
that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of 
president of the United States ; and will, to the best of 



United States of America. 277 

my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the constitution 
of the United States." The oath was administered by 
the honourable Robert R. Livingston, chancellor of the 
state of New- York. An awful silence prevailed among 
the spectators during this part of the ceremony. It 
was a minute of the most sublime political joy. The 
chancellor then proclaimed him president of the United 
States. John Adams was at the same time elected vice- 
president. 

There is nothing more striking in the whole character 
of general Washington, and which distinguishes him 
from other extraordinary men, than the circumstances 
which attended his promotion and retreat from office* 
He eagerly courted privacy, and only submitted to exer- 
cise authority as a public duty. The promotion of many 
men is a triumph of ambition over virtue. The pro- 
motion, even of good men, has generally been sought 
by them from motives that were very much mixed. 
The promotion of Washington, almost alone, seems to 
have been a victory gained by his conscience over his in- 
clination. To despise what most other men eagerly hunt 
for, and to shew himself equal to the highest places, 
without ever seeking any, w 7 ere the peculiar character- 
istics of this truly great man. 

Events occurred during his chief magistracy which 
convulsed the whole political world, and which severely 
tried his moderation and prudence. The French revo- 
lution took place ; and it was during its most turbulent 
period, when the people of all countries were divided 
into parties, that Washington was a second time chosen 
president of the United States, A. D. 1792, but not una- 
nimously, as in the former instance. The disposition 
which he had shewn to take no part in favour of the 
perpetual changes in France, had created him enemies 
among those who espoused the cause of the French as 
the cause of mankind. He had, however, a decided 
majority ; and the honourable John Adams was again 
elected vice-president. 



27i 



History of all Nations. 



In Oct. 1796, president Washington publicly announc- 
ed his resolution of retiring from public life. The resig- 
nation of this great man at this period was deplored by- 
all the moderate party in America, and by the govern- 
ment party in Great Britain. By the latter he was con- 
sidered as a steady friend ; and was indeed regarded as 
the leader of what was ca led the English party in Amer- 
ica. Such are the vicisitudes of political connections. In 
1776, he was considered in England as a proscribed 
rebel : in 1796 he was regarded as the best friend that 
the English had in the United States. In 1776 his 
destruction was thought the only means of preserving 
America to Great- Britain ; in 1796 his authority was 
esteemed the principal security against her falling under 
the yoke of France. At the former period he looked 
to the aid of France as his only hope of guarding the 
liberties of America against England; at the latter he 
must have considered the power of Great-Britain as the 
main barrier of the safety of America against France. 
The election of the first successor to President 
Washington was the most important event in the histo- 
ry of the infant republic. Nothing could be conducted 
in a more dignified manner : the choice fell upon John 
Adams as President, and upon Thomas Jefferson as 
Vice-President (A. D. 1797.) The functions of the 
new president were to commence the 4th of March, 
previous to which he repaired to the house of represen- 
tatives to take the necessary oaths. At this ceremony 
were a multitude of spectators of high rank ; one of 
whom, after minutely describing all that passed, adds 
these words : " Nothing can be more simple than the 
iceremony of this installation ; but this very simplicity 
lias something in it so delightful, so noble, and so nearly 
resembling the grandeur of antiquity, that it commands 
our reverence, and seizes on our worthiest affections. 
I speak at least of the effect it produced on my feelings. 
This change of the Persons exercising the most awful 
functions of the state, with so little pomp, but with so 
great solemnity ; and which places a man, who the 



United States of America. 279 

evening before was among the crowd of simple citizens, 
at the head of the government ; while he who held the 
first office of the state the preceding evening, is return- 
ed again to the class of simple citizens — is full of the 
qualities that constitute true greatness."* 

After various and repeated insults from the French 
government (in A. D. 1798) the United States found it 
necessary to arm in their own defence. They had for 
years endured with a patience of which there is scarcely 
any example in the history of states, all the contumely 
and wrongs which successive administrations in France 
had heaped upon them. Their ships were every where 
captured ; their ministers were but prisoners at Paris ; 
while agents, some of whom were indeed clothed in the 
sacred character of ambassador, had endeavored to ex- 
cite in America the seeds of civil war . The United States 
resolved to arm by land and by sea. The command of the 
army was bestowed on General Washington, which he 
accepted because he said he was convinced " that every 
thing they held dear and sacred was threatened ; though 
he had flattered himsel that he had quitted for ever the 
boundless field of public action, incessant trouble, and 
high responsibility in which he had so long acted so con- 
spicuous apart." In this office he continued the short 
period of his life. On the 12th day of December, 
1799, he was seized with an inflammation in his throat ; 
which terminated his valuable life in two days, in the 
68th year of his age and in the 23d year of American 
Independence ; of which he may justly be regarded as 
the founder. He died fully impressed with those senti- 
ments of piety which had given vigour and consistency 
to his virtue, and had adorned every part of a life blame- 
less and illustrious. 

In 1801, came on the election for a new President of 
the United States, and Thomas Jefferson was elected 
President, and Aaron Burr Vice-President. The 



* Duke de la Rochefaucault Liancourt 



280 History of all Nations. 

next election took place 1804, when Thomas Jefferson 
wa..< elected President, and George Clinton Vice-Presi- 
dent, 

At the time of the completion of the new constitution, 
and the first sitting of the new congress in 1789, the 
union consisted of no more than thirteen States ; but 
since that period seven others have been added, in the 
manner prescribed by the Constitution. Kentucky, 
which was formerly a part of the state of Virginia; 
Vermont which was a part of New- Hampshire, were 
raised into states in the year 1791: and in 1796 Ten- 
nesse, formerly a part of North Carolina, was admitted 
as an independent state. Since that period the Maine, 
the territory north-west of Ohio, the Indian territory, 
and Mississippi territory, have been recognized as states 
belonging to the federal government; and in 1803, Lou- 
isiana was ceded by Spain to the United States of Amer- 
ica for fifteen millions of Dollars. Louisiana was 
discovered by Juan Ponte cle Leon in 1512; it after- 
wards came into the possession of the French, who 
about the middle of the last century claimed and pos- 
sessed, as Louisiana, all that part of the new continent 
which was bounded on the south by the Gulf of Mexi- 
co, on the north by Canada, and on the east and west 
indefinitely, comprehending a greater extent than the 
United States. 

The new system of Republican government in these 
states, secures to individuals two important privileges; 
the security of their persons and property by the ha- 
beas corpus act, and trial by jury. It unites the res- 
pective states of the union in a much closer confedera- 
tion than the helvetic union brought the Swiss Cantons, 
or even the compact which united the seven united prov- 
inces of the Netherlands, formerly : In many important 
points, it may be justly said, to be such a form of govern- 
ment as the world had not before seen. 

The president, the senate and house of representa- 
tives, form the executive and legislative body. 



United States of America. 281 

No specific portion of property, whether real of 
personal, is required to be possessed as a qualification: 
for a representative, a senator, or president : nor is 
any one excluded on account of the religious principles 
which he professes; Jews, and Roman Catholics, are 
as eligible as any other class of citizens. The house 
of representatives is chosen every two years by the 
people of the several states ; every person who has resid- 
ed for six months in any county, rented a tenement 
worth forty shillings per annum* and paid taxes, is qual- 
ified to vote for a delegate to Congress. The only le- 
gal requisites in a candidate are, his having attained 
twenty-five years of age ; having been seven years a 
citizen of the United States ; and at the time of his elec- 
tion, an inhabitant ot the state by which he is chosen. 
The holding any place of honour or emolument, is an 
absolute disqualification. In this representation, there 
is no distinction of knights, citizens, and burgesses, it 
not being made out of counties, cities, and borrougl* 
towns ; fqr exclusive rights and peculiar privileges of 
corporations (as in England, and elsewhere) are un- 
known in the United States. 

The design of the federal constitution is, that the 
number of representatives in congress shall not exceed 
one to every thirty thousand, but that each state shall have 
at least one representative. 

The senate of the United States is composed of two 
senators from each state, chosen, not from the people 
at large, but from the legislatures of the several states. 
No one can be chosen a senator who has not attained 
thirty years of age, who has not been nine years a citi- 
zen, and is not a resident of the state where he is cho- 
sen : he cannot hold any place of honor, trust, ©r profit, 
These senators, when assembled, are to be divided into 
three classes ; those of the first class shall vacate their 
seats at the expiration of the second year ; those of the. 
second class, at the end of the fourth year, and of the 
third class, at the expiration of the sixth year, 

.3 to 



28f History of all JS attorn. 

The President of the United States, in whom is 
vested the executive power, and who must not be un- 
der thirty-five years of age, is chosen by the nomination 
of each state, which, for this purpose names two, and the 
person upon whom the largest number of suffrages falls 
obtains this rank, which is held for four years. In like 
manner the Vice-President is to be elected, and for the 
same term.* The latter is president of the senate. All 
the officers of the federal government are to be paid for 
their services at a rate to be settled by law, and out of 
the treasury of the United States. 

The most effectual precautions have been adopted by 
the patriotic and judicious framers of the federal consti- 
tution, to repress the spirit of ambition, and views of 
aggrandizement, inherent in human nature, by every in- 
dividual being chosen for a short term, from his being 
inhibited from enjoying any kind of post, or receivings 
without permission, any kind of present. 
J Religion. — Every person in this country enjoys 
the fullest privilege of following that manner of worship, 
which he deems most acceptable to the Deity} 

The population of the United Slates at present is six 
millions,! of this number five millions two hundred and 
fifty thousand are employed in cultivating the Soil.-— 
The remaining seven hundred fifty thousand persons 
reside in cities or pursue avocations other than agricul- 
tural. Of this last number five hundred thousand are 
mechanics or artificers. The remaining two hundred 
and fifty thousand persons are supported by trade, by 
exercise of learned professions, by independent fortunes^ 
and avocations neither agricultural or mechanical. 



* Those highly distinguished offices are at present filled by Thomas Jefv 

ferson and George Clinton. 

f Upwards of half a million of whom are slaves, or black people ! ! — ■ 
But, to the honour of the two countries, and the great satisfaction of all the 
friends of humanity, the nefarious traffic in human flesh, is now wisely abol- 
ished by the American and British governments ; the act of abolition to be 
sarriediuta eflect after a certain period of time, which is now nearly elapsed. 



Abyssinia. 28S 

According to a statement of the Secretary of the trea- 
sury, the following foreign goods are annually consu- 
med in the United States, viz. 

Dollars. 
Rum, - - - - 5,992,000 

Wines, .... 1,859,000 

Salt, - - - - 1,500,000 

Teas, . - . 1,256,000 

Sugar, coffee, and molasses, - 4,900,000 

All other articles, dry goods, &c. Sec. 40,000,000 

Total, 55,507,000 



CHAPTER XXX. 
ABYSSINIA^ 

The empire of Abyssinia is indifferently called Abys- 
sinia, Abasi, or Habessinia, from the Arabic Herbesh, 
which signifies a mixture, the country being peopled 
by various nations ; but the inhabitants themselves call 
it Itjopia, or Ethiopia. It has also been known, though 
absurdly, by the name of Prester John's country. It ex- 
tends from thirty-two degrees to forty -five degrees E, 
longitude, and from seven degrees twenty minutes to 
about sixteen degrees N. latitude. It is bounded on 
the north by the kingdom of Nubia ; on the E. by Aza- 
mia, and a vast chain of mountains which separate it 
from the Red Sea ; on the S. it is bounded by Alaba, 
called by Mr. Bruce., Galla ; and on the W. by parts 
little known. 

The Abyssinian empire appears to have been from 
its first foundation entirely despotic ; and, according to 
their annals, there never was a period of time since its 
first origin, when the princes of this country did not 
claim an absolute right over the lives, liberty, and for- 
tunes of their subjects, as well as an uncontrolable au- 



234 History of all Nations-. 

thority in all ecclesiastical affairs ; and it is not knows, 
that there ever were any written laws to restrain this ex- 
orbitant power, or secure the liberties of the subject. 

These princes boast their being descended from 
Mentiehech, the son of Solomon, king of Israel, by the 
queen of Sheba. According to them this princess 
reigned twenty-five years after her return from Judea, 
and was succeeded by this son, from whom descended 
a series of princes in a direct line down to the year nine 
hundred and sixty, when the crown passed into another 
family, but was afterwards restored to the former. 
Hence the emperor still retains the pompous titles of 
" the Beloved of God," " Son of the Pillar of Zion," 
" Kinsman to the race of Judah," " Son of David and 
Solomon," and " Emperor of the Great and high 
Ethiopia, its kingdoms and provinces," &.c. They also 
bear in their arms a lion holding a cross, with this in- 
scription in the Ethiopic tongue, " the lien of the tribe 
of Judah is victorious." 

The respect paid to this prince amounts almost to 
adoration ; those who are admitted to his presence fall 
prostrate before him, and kiss the earth as they approach 
his person ; and it is said, that even in his absence, they 
never hear his name mentioned without bowing very 
low, and touching the ground with their hand. The 
other marks of grandeur chiefly consist in the retinue 
with which he is attended ; for he is not only accompa- 
nied by his own household and guards, which are very 
numerous, but by all the grandees and officers of the 
empire, who strive to outvie each other in the greatness 
and splendour of their retinue, in the richness of their 
dress, and the magnificence of their pavilions. 

Since the time that these accounts were written, the 
empire has been greatly weakened by long and fierce in- 
testine commotions, and the grandeur of the emperor 
consequently much diminished ; but Mi% Bruce gives 
the following instances of his despotic power, and of 
the servile homage which is paid to him. It is death to 
Strike, or lift the hand to strike in the king's presence. 



Abyssinia. 285 

Travels, IV. 70. Sitting on the king's saddle, or in 
his seat at Gondar, is high treason. III. 586. In all pla- 
ces where a governor is invested with supreme power, 
it is customary to have an arm-chair left empty in the 
middle of the hall where justice is administered, which 
represents the sovereign, and to which obeisance is 
made. IV. 357. 

There is an officer named Kal Hatze who sits always 
upon the steps, at the side of the lattice window, where 
there is a hole, covered in the inside with a curtain of 
green taffeta : behind this curtain the king sits, and 
through the hole sends, by this officer, what he has to 
say to the board, who arise, and receive the messenger 
standing. Travels, IV. 76. 

When the king was marching with his army, the 
Shum or lord of a district through which he passed 
and his son were both hanged, because a branch of a 
tree which reached across a piece of water had taken off 
the king's cap, and left him bare-headed. IV. 66. 

Although the crown of Abyssinia is hereditary, and 
must be preserved in the same family ; yet the emperor, 
if he pleases, may choose any one of his children whom 
he thinks most worthy to succeed him. This probably 
gave birth to the severe custom, formerly observed in 
this empire, of confining all the princes of the blood 
to the forties?, or rock, called Ambageuxen, which 
some have described as a severe and disagreeable place 
of confinement, on the summit of a lofty mountain ; 
while others represent it as an earthly paradise, in which 
these princes enjoyed every blessing except liberty, and 
were educated in a manner suitable to their birth. This 
custom, according to Lobo, was established in the year 
1260, and had been abolished some time when he was in 
the empire. From it the late Dr. Johnson founded his 
pleasing romance of Rasselas. 

The Abyssinian monarchs, like their ancient proge- 
nitor Solomon, king of the Jews, allow themselves a 
plurality of wives ; and not only imitate him in that, but 
in taking those of different religions, even Mahomedans 



286 history of all Nations. 

and Gentiles ; and some have carried this so far, as t« 
allow their heathen wives to have their own temples and 
idols; so that on one side might be seen the church of 
God, and on the other a pagan temple. Others, how- 
ever, have had so much regard to' their religion, as to 
cause those Pagan or Mahomedan ladies to be instruct- 
ed and baptized before they married them. The gene- 
rality of these princes, however, choose to marry the 
daughters of noble families among their subjects ; while 
others pay a greater regard to the natural endowments of 
the mind, or the beauty of the person, than to their no- 
ble extraction. 

It was formerly the custom for the emperors never to 
appear in public, and they were seldom known to trou- 
ble themselves with the affairs of government, the care 
of which was committed to two ministers, called bablu- 
ded, or favourites : but this custom has been long abo- 
lished, and they shew themselves to their subjects at 
least three or four times a year, though none is allowed 
to see them eat, except the pages who feed them, for 
both they and all the great have their meat cut into small 
pieces and conveyed to their mouths by young pages. 
When they give audience to foreign ambassadors, they 
alwayssit out of sight behind the curtain. 

Notwithstanding the despotic power which prevails in 
Abyssinia, and no less in Nubia, yet the king of Sen- 
naar, a country between them, possesses his sovereign- 
ty, subject to a condition which renders him entirely at 
the mercy of his nobles ; and yet the first title of nobili- 
ty in the country is that of slave ; " there is indeed," 
says Mr. Bruce, " no other. Upon any appearance of 
your undervaluing a man at Sennaar, he instantly asks 
you, if you know who he is ? If you do not know he 
is a slave ? with the same idea of aristocratical impor- 
tance, as would be expresed in England, upon a like oc- 
casion, Do you know to whom you are speaking? Do 
you know that I am a peer ? All titles and dignities are 
undervalued and precarious, unles they are in the hands 



Abyssinia ,287 

of one that is a slave ; slavery in Sennaar is the only true 
nobility." IV. 459. 

The restriction alluded to above, under which the 
king of Sennaar reigns, is as follows : when a king 
ascends the throne, he receives his dignity upon this ex- 
press condition, that he may be lawfully put to death by 
his own subjects or slaves, upon a council being held by 
the great officers, and they decreeing that it is not for 
the advantage of the state that he should be suffered to 
reign any longer. There is one officer of his own fami- 
ly, who alone can be the instrument of shedding his 
sovereign's and kinsman's blood : this officer is called 
Sid el Coom, which means, master of the king's house- 
hold or servants, but he has no vote in deposing the 
king, nor is any guilt imputed to him, aldiough he 
should thus officially murder many of his sovereigns. — 
Achmet Sid el Coom y with whom Mr. Bruce was upon 
the most intimate terms while he continued at Sennaar 
resided in the king's (Ismain's) palace : he had put to 
death the late king, Nasser, and two of his sons, who 
were well grown, beside a child at its mother's breast, 
and he was expected every day to be directed to act the 
same part by Ismain, though at that time there was no 
malice on the one part or jealousy on the other. — 
Mr. Bruce believed each of them had an apprehension 
of what was likely to happen. This royal executioner 
told our traveller with great coolness, in answer to the 
question why he murdered Nasser's sons in his father's 
presence ? that he did not dare to do otherwise from 
duty to Nasser, whose right it was to see his sons slain 
in a regular and lawful manner, and this was by cutting 
the throat with a sword, and not by a more ignominious 
and painful death, which if it had not been done in his 
father's sight, the vengeance of their enemies might 
have suggested and inflicted. He said that Nasser was 
very little concerned at the spectacle ©f his two sons' 
death, but very loth when it came to his turn to die., 
earnestly conjuring Achmet to suffer him to escape ; but 
finding all entreaties vain, he submitted without resistance. 



2.88 History of all Nations. 

Mr. Bruce asked Achmet, if he was not afraid, when he 
entered into the king's presence, lest he too might take it 
into his head to shew- him that to die or to be slain was 
not so slight a matter as he made of it ? He said by no 
means ; that it was his duty to be with the king the great- 
est part of the morning, and necessarily once very late 
in the evening. That the king knew he had no hand in 
the harm that might be done to him, nor any way advan- 
ced his death ; but being come to the point that he must 
die, the rest was only a matter of decency, and it would 
undoubtedly be the object of his choice rather to be 
slain by the hands of his own relation in private, than by 
those of an hired assassin, an Arab, or a Christian slave 
in public view. Travels, IV. 462. 

Religion of the Abyssinians. — It has already 
been intimated, that the Abyssinians boast their having 
received both their kings and the Jewish religion from 
Solomon. Of this they have an ancient record, whieh 
gives the following account of this singular event : 
" That a great and potent queen, named Azeb, or Ma- 
queda, reigning in Ethiopia, being informed by a mer- 
chant, named Tamerin, of the great power and wisdom 
of Solomon, travelled to Jerusalem, attended by a reti- 
nue of the greatest princes and nobles of Ethiopia, and 
with immense treasure. There Solomon instructed 
her in the knowledge of the true God ; and upon her 
return home, at the end of nine months, she was de- 
livered of a son, who was called Menilehech, and also 
David. This son afterwards going to Jerusalem, to 
see his father Solomon," was magnificently entertained 
by him, and anointed king of Ethiopia, by Zadoc, 
the high-priest ; and when he was thoroughly instructed 
in the law of God, which he was to cause to be observed 
in his dominions, Solomon assigned several of the first- 
born of Israel to attend and serve him in Ethiopia, and 
furnished him with officers and servants belonging to 
the house of Judah, with a high-priest, levites, and 
doctors in the law of Moses." 



Abyssinia. 289 

There is nothing in this account very improbable ; 
but the same record adds many circumstances that are 
evidently false ; as, that the first-born of Israel, at the 
instigation of Azariah, the son of Zadock, went to Jeru- 
salem, and fetched the ark out of the temple ; and being 
assisted by a train of miracles, escaped the pursuit of 
Solomon, and arrived with it in Ethiopia ; it is not, 
however, improbable, that the prince of Abyssinia 
might cause another ark to be made like that formed by 
Moses ; and that this story might be afterwards invented,, 
in order to procure it a more general veneration. Such 
an ark is said to be still kept, but is so closely concealed, 
that even their monarchs are not admitted to a sight 
of it. 

The Abyssinians maintain, that they were converted 
to Christianity by the eunuch or prime minister of their 
queen Candace, or, as they call her, Handake who, 
after his conversion by Philip, they say returned into 
Ethiopia, and gave his queen a full account of all that 
had passed ; upon which that princess also believed in 
the gospel. However this may be, Athanasius, pa- 
triarch of Alexandria, in the year 335, ordained Fru- 
mentius, bishop of Auxuma, and sent him to preach 
the gospel in Ethiopia. This he performed with great 
success; the discipline of the church was then settled 
eonformably to that of Alexandria ; priests and deac ns 
were every where ordained ; liturgies, articles, and can- 
ons were settled and confirmed; and the Abyssinian 
church was brought to acknowledge herself wholly 
subject to, and dependent upon that of Alexandria. 

The early travellers to the east, such as Rubruquis, 
Marco Paulo, and others, gave to the empire of Abys- 
sinia the name of Prester, or Presbyter John's country, 
from the great power and authority which was possess- 
ed by the chief ecclesiastic ; but Lobo accounts for this 
name being given to Abyssinia, because the country 
was confounded by the Portuguese with an ancient 
and famous Christian state called by that name in the 
Indies, which is now known as the country of the 

2 N 



290 History of all A attorn* 

Grand Lama. Voyage to Abyssinia, p. 44. There- 
port which had been spread in Europe of Christ ianity 
being professed in this remote and secluded country, indu- 
ced John II. king of Portugal, when intent upon open- 
ing a communication with the East- Indies, to at- 
tempt to gain some knowledge of Abyssinia also. — 
To effect both these purposes, he sent Pedro de Covil- 
lam and Alphonsode Payva, about the year 1488, who 
were both thoroughly versed in the Arabic language, 
into the East. The two travellers repaired to Cairo, 
whence they travelled in company with a caravan of 
Egyptian merchants, and crossed over to Aden, on the 
Red Sea, where they separated. Payva sailed directly 
towards Abyssinia, Covillam embarked for the East 
Indies. The latter completed his travels successfully 
and safely, but the former was unfortunately murdered, 
and the country remained entirely unknown to Euro- 
peans until some missionaries were hardy enough to vi- 
sit it early in the last century . 

The Abyssinians, however, retain many of the Jewish 
ceremonies. They circumcise not only the male but 
the female infants, which last is done by cutting off a 
small piece of skin from the clitoris. They abstain 
from blood, things strangled, the flesh of swine, and 
the other animals prohibited by the Mosaic law. Ac- 
cording to Mr. Bruce, hares are likewise interdicted for 
food. They use purifications and washings after certain 
defilements. They oblige a man, if his brother die 
without male issue, to marry his widow, and raise up 
seed to his name ; and they keep the seventh day sab- 
bath. 

On the other hand, they believe the doctrine of the 
Trinity, and that Christ shall come again in glory to 
judge the quick and the dead, when the just shall inherit 
the kingdom of heaven, and unrepenting sinners be sent 
into hell. Mr. Bruce relates, that a dwarf belonging to 
Ras Michael, prime minister of Abyssinia, whose name 
was Dono, constantly spent his time in reading the 
scriptures, the acts of the councils, the works of St 



Indostan* 291 

John Chrysostom, and other such books as they have 
among them. — Travels IV. 101. 

The Abyssinian clergy are allowed to marry. The 
people never enter their churches without pulling off 
their shoes or sandals. The divine service consists of 
a set of prayers, psalms, and hymns suitable to the 
seasons, and for the most part is performed with great 
decency and devotion, without any of that pomp and ce- 
remony used in the church of Rome. They have no 
bells, but call the people to the church by the sound of 
wooden hammers. They have neither pews, benches, 
nor hassocks, but continue standing ail the time. In 
/lone of these edifices, whether sumptuous or mean, 
are any statues or carved images of any kind, except 
pictures : they will not suffer any crucifixes, whether 
•arved or cast in metal, to be seen in them. — Payne. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 
INDOSTAN.* 

This once extensive, populous, powerful, and cele- 
brated empire, although at present entirely subverted, 
yet constitutes a very interesting subject for oriental 
history. The court of the prince, who was known in 
Europe by the title of the " Great Mogul." was splen- 
did beyond rivalship, even amidst eastern grandeur. 
There magnificence was displayed to the fullest degree 
that human pride and human ingenuity, assisted by a 
profusion of every species of dazzling wealth, employed- 
under the most propitious climate, to gratify the most 
luxurious habits, could supply. The city of Delhi, 



* The history of Indostan being-, we presume, but little known to most of 
our readers, (especially the younger class, for whose benefit this work is 
principally intended) we have devoted a greater portion rf this publication, 
to it than to any other country. 



292 History of all JSations. 

the residence of the emperor, was of vast extent, and 
its riches countless ; for hither the contributions, which 
were drawn from the widely extended provinces of the 
empire, were continually flowing. 

Various are the names by which the country forming 
this empire w T as known ; such as India, Mogulstan, In- 
dostan, Hindostan, and Hindoostan. Its extent and 
boundaries, when at the height of power, may be laid 
down from thirty-five degrees to nineteen degrees N. 
latitude, and from sixty-eight degrees to ninety-two 
degrees E. longitude. Bounded on the W. by the In- 
dus, on the E. by the Ganges, northward by Cashmere, 
and the chain of mountains which stretch along Lahore ; 
southward by the Decan, or Deccan, and Golconda ; in- 
cluding a vast extent of country, populous, fertile, 
highly cultivated, and abounding with manufactures. 

When Alexander undertook his expedition into India, 
the powerful empire which afterwards arose there was 
not established, but the country consisted of several 
independent and extensive monarchies. After the death 
of Alexander, the conquests which he had made in In- 
dia continued under the dominion of the Macedonians, 
being first governed by Pytho and afterwards by Seleu- 
cus. Soon after the death of the latter, which was 
about two hundred and fifty years before the Christian 
asra, Dr. Robinson supposes the Macedonians were 
compelled to abandon their possessions in India. His- 
torical Disquisition concerning Ancient India, p. 33. 

Some Greeks, however, still retained the kingdom of 
Bactria, a; d even extended their conquests very consi- 
derably. There were six princes who at one time reign- 
ed in Bactria, some of whom were distinguished by the 
title of " the Great King ;" a mark of pre-eminence 
assumed by the monarchs of Persia when inflated by 
the plenitude of power. At length these potent princes 
were overwhelmed by a vast body of Tartars, which 
poured in upon them from the north, and the dominion 
of the Greeks in India was entirely subverted. 



Indostcw. 293 

With their expulsion all knowledge of the internal 
state of the country was entirely lost, during the vast 
space of sixteen centuries. It was not until the Portu- 
guese became acquainted with India, by sailing round 
the southern point of Africa, and boldly adventuring 
across the Indian ocean, that any knowledge of the his- 
tory of India was obtained in Europe ; although the 
spices, silks, porcelaine, pearls, and diamonds, which it 
yielded, had been obtained in all ages. Since the com- 
merce of the East has been transferred successively to 
the maritime nations possessing the western coasts of 
Europe, the history of the powerful empires which oc- 
cupy those regions has been gradually developed. Con- 
cerning many of these countries, the Romish missiona- 
ries have g-ven very copious information ; but of the 
empire we are now to describe, the researches of En- 
glish gentlemen, who have been long resident in some 
of its parts, have furnished the most full and satisfactory 
accounts ; who, amidst commercial pursuits and military 
occupations, have found leisure to gratify a taste for lite- 
rature, in a manner the most useful and laudable. Of 
these the indefatigable and discerning Major Rennell 
has taken, beyond compare, the most extensive survey 
of the face of the country, and of its general history : 
he has, indeed, rendered Englishmen as well acquainted 
with the empire of Indostan, as with that of Great- 
Britain. From the general mass of information the fol- 
lowing sketch has been made. 

The Mahomedan government, which afterwards ex- 
tended itself to Indostan, arose at first from a very small 
beginning among the mountains which divide Persia from 
India. The Afghans, or Patans, a warlike race of men, 
who had been subjects of the vast empire of Bcehara, 
revolted under their governor Abstagi, in the fourth 
century of the Higera, or tenth of the Christian sera, 
and laid the foundation of the empire of Ghizni or 
Gazna. 

The Afghans were divided into distinct communi- 
ties, each of which was governed by a prince, who was 



294 History oj all Nations. % 

considered by his subjects as the chief of their blood as 
well as their sovereign. They obeyed him without re- 
luctance, as they derived credit to their family by his 
greatness. They attended him in his wars with the at- 
tachment which children have to a parent; and his gov- 
ernment, though severe, partook more of the rigid dis- 
cipline of a general, than of the caprice of a despot. — 
Rude, like the face of their country, and fierce and wild 
as the storms which covered their mountains, they were 
addicted to incursions and depredations, and delighted 
in battle and plunder. United firmly to their friends in 
war, to their enemies faithless and cruel, they placed 
justice in force, and concealed treachery under the name 
of address. Dow^s History: Dissertation prefixed to 
Vol. Ill pag. xi. 

Under a succession of warlike Patan princes, this 
empire rose to a surprising magnitude. In the begin- 
ning of the fifth century of the Higera, it extended from 
Ispahan to Bengal, and from the mouth of the Indus to 
the banks of the Jaxertes ; which comprehends half of 
the great continent of Asia. 

The Charisman empire, which arose on the confines 
of Persia and Great Tartary, circumscribed the kings 
of the Ghiznian Patans toward the north, and obliged 
them to transfer the seat of their empire to Lahore, and 
afterwards to Delhi. Zingis Chan, who subverted the 
Charisman empire, further reduced the emperor's do- 
minions, which became entirely confined within the lim- 
its of Hindoostan. Amir Timur, or Tamerlane, a Tar- 
tarian emperor, distinguished for extensive and rapid 
conquests, invaded Hindoostan, A. D. 1397, and com- 
mitted numberless acts of cruelty. In one day he caused 
all his prisoners, amounting to one hundred thousand, 
to be massacred in cold blood ; which execrable deed 
was only a prelude to the slaughter which ensued upon 
taking of Delhi. The conqueror, however, contented 
himself with reducing the emperor to a tributary depen- 
dence upon him, and evacuated the country. From 
him the natives gave the country the name oiMogulstan, 



Indostati. 295 

and the missionaries have denominated it " the empire 
of the Great Mogul," the throne having been long held 
by descendants from Tamerlane, who was a Mogul 
Tartar. 

In the beginning of the sixteenth century, Baber, a 
descendant of Tamerlane, possessed himself of the im- 
perial dignity, and became emperor of Mogul. This 
prince was the wonder of the age in which he lived ; 
he ascended the Tartarian throne when only twelve 
years of age, and, with various turns of fortune, reign- 
ed thirty-eight years. He was generous and humane, 
a patron of learned men, and himself a scholar; he wrote 
his own commentaries in the Mogul language, which 
are universally admired. In a military capacity he was 
equalled by very few; he rendered the most daring en- 
terprizes easy by his undaunted courage and persever- 
ance, which rose above all difficulties, and made him 
much more the object of admiration in his adversity, 
than in the height of his prosperity. Nor did he forget 
himself in the latter, but always behaved with that mod- 
eration and equanimity which characterize a great soul. 
But, notwithstanding a considerable part of his life 
was spent in the field, he found intervals in which he 
gratified his passion for wine, women, and all the de- 
lights of courts. When disposed to give himself up 
to pleasure, he used to cause a fountain to be filled with 
wine, upon which was inscribed a verse to this effect. 
"Jovial days! blooming springs! old wine and young 
maidens! enjoy freely, O Baber, for life is not twice 
to be enjoyed." He died A. D. 1530. Humaicoon, 
the son of this great man, reigned about twelve years, 
when he was dethroned, and obliged to seek safety by 
retiring into Fersia. Shere Shaw, an Afghan prince, 
then ascended the throne in 1542; but Humaicoon re- 
covered the kingdom of Indostan twelve years after- 
wards, during which period three more Patan princes 
had successively reigned. The empire, on the resto- 
ration of Humaicoon, was again transferred from the 
Afghans to the Moguls. Mahummet Akbar succeeded 



296 History of all Nations. 

his father on the throne, A. D. 1555, when he was only 
fourteen years of age. He was the sixth in descent 
from Tamerlane ; contemporary with Shah Abas, king 
of Persia, surnamed " The Great," with Elizabeth 
queen of England, and Henry IV. of France; four 
other such illustrious contemporary sovereigns history 
perhaps does not exhibit. The reig;. of this prince has 
been very elaborately written by his vizier Abul Fazil, 
except the two last years of it, the author having been 
cut off by ruffians in the year 1603. The encomiums he 
pays the prince his master, are dictated in the most 
sublime style of oriental adulation; but neither that, 
nor the violent death which overtook him, can support 
a suspicion that he was a gross flatterer instead of a faith- 
ful historian; for the memory of Akbar has been trans- 
mitted from age to age with the highest renown. This 
valuable piece of history has been lately translated into 
English by Mr. Gladwin. 

In the reign of Akbar, the empire of Indostan was 
divided into twelve Soubahs, or vice-royalties. The 
internal regulation of the empire was much attended to 
by this prince. Inquiries were set on foot, by which 
the revenues, population, produce, religion, arts, and 
commerce of each district were ascertained, as well as 
its extent and relative position. Many of these inter- 
esting and useful particulars were, by Abul Fazil, col- 
lected into a book, called, " the Ayin Akbaree, or, In- 
stitutes of Akbar, which to this day forms an authentic 
register of these matters. "Akbar," says Major 
Rennell, "began by dividing Indostan proper into 
eleven Soubahs or provinces, some of which were in ex- 
tent equal to large European kingdoms. The soubahs 
were again divided into circars, and these subdivided 
into purgunnahs ; resembling provinces, counties, and 
hundreds, as few circars are of less extent than the 
largest English counties. The names of the eleven 
soubahs were Lahore, Moultan (including Sindy) Agi- 
mere, Delhi, Agra, Oude, Allahabad, Bahar, Bengal, 
Malioa, andGuzerat: a 12th, viz. Cubal, was formed 



Indostan. Wl 

©ut of the countries contiguous to the western sources 
of the Indus, and included Candahar and Ghizni; three 
additional ones were erected after the conquests in the 
Deccan, viz. Berah, Candeish, and Amednagur." — 
Memoir of a Map, Introd. ex. It is said that this 
prince, who possessed strong natural endowments, and 
a great thirst for knowledge, was extremely desirous of 
being informed concerning the various religions which 
prevailed in the world : a Portuguese missionary in- 
structed him in the religion of the church of Rome, 
called Christianity ; an account of all the other systems 
of religion which prevailed in the world was easily ob- 
tained, except that of his own subjects, the Hindoos, 
who, as they admit no proselytes, scrupulously conceal 
the articles of their faith, and even the language of their 
scriptures. By the help of his minister Abul Fazel, a 
youth was imposed upon a Brahmin, as an orphan of that 
tribe, and was sent to the seminary of learning at Be- 
nares to be instructed in the sacred language and myste- 
ries of the Hindoos' religion, for the purpose of impart- 
ing them, when acquired, to the emperor ; but the 
youth, when qualified for the task assigned him, was so 
struck with horror at the intended profanation, that he 
discovered the whole design to his foster father, and the 
emperor remained ignorant of this mysterious faith to 
the day of his death. He reigned fifty-one years, (dying 
A. D. 1606) in which time the wealth and consequence 
of his kingdom rose to an height before unknown.— 
Upon the death of Akbar, his son Selim ascended the 
throne in Agra, who assumed the title of Jahangire ; he 
reigned twenty-two years, and dying, Shah Jehan obtain- 
ed the musnud, who, after a reign of thirty-two years, 
was deposed by his third son the famous Aurengzebe, 
cr Aurungzebe, who murdered or banished his two 
brothers, and took the name of Allumguire in 1659. 
. To Aurungzebe, or Allumguire, business was^ an 
amusement ; he added to an extensive knowledge of 
the affairs of the empire, sn unremitting application. 
He punished judges severely for corruption and par- 

2 o 



298 History of all Nations, 

tiality. His penetrating eye followed oppression to its 
most secret retreats, and his stern justice established 
tranquility, and secured property all over his extensive 
dominions. 

During the first nineteen years of his reign a profound 
peace prevailed throughout his extensive empire, which 
at length became interrupted by the attempts of the em- 
peror to subdue the Deccan, an extensive country in 
the middle of the Indian peninsula, which, after a severe 
conflict, he nearly effected ; but this acquisition proved 
the downfal of the empire to his successors. The 
enemy which alone was capable of opposing him in 
the field was Sevagee, who had acquired an extensive 
territory in those parts> and became the founder of the 
Mahratta power. He dying in 1680, his son Sambajee, 
who succeeded him, was betrayed into the hands of 
Aurungzebe, who put him to death. 

That part of his conduct which reflected the greatest 
disgrace from his reign, was the severe persecution 
■which he carried on against the Hindoos. The Rajpoot 
tribes in Agimere, irritated by the insults offered to their 
religion, rose in arms, and the emperor in person led an 
army against them ; in which expedition he was inclosed 
among the mountains, and narrowly escaped being made 
prisoner, with all his troops : his empress was captured, 
but not detained. Notwithstanding, after this, in 1681, 
he took and destroyed Chitore, the famous capital of the 
Rana ; he likewise destroyed all the objects of Hindoo 
worship found there ; yet the spirits of these intrepid, 
people remained invincible, and Aurungzebe found it 
necessary to conclude a peace. There is a letter ex- 
tant, written by Jeswont Sing, Rajah of Joudipoor, to 
the emperor, which has been translated by sir Charles 
Boughton Rouse, and is inserted in Mr. Orme's Histo- 
rical Fragments of the Mogul Empire, note 49 ; it ex- 
postulates with the emperor on the unjust measures he 
was pursuing with respect to the Hindoos. " This let- 
ter," says Major Rennell, " breathes the most perfect 
spirit of philanthropy, and of toleration in matters of 



Indostan. 299 

religion, together with the most determined resolution 
to oppose the meditated attack on the civil and religious 
rights of the Hindoos." Memoir of Map, Introduct. 
p. Ixiu J\ote, 

This renowned emperor died 1707, in the ninetieth 
year of his age, at Amednagur, in the Deccan. 

" Under his reign," says major Rennell, " the em- 
pire attained its full measure of extent. His authority 
reached from the tenth to the thirty-fifth degree of lati- 
tude ; and nearly as much in longitude. His revenue 
exceeded thirty -two millions of pounds sterling in a 
country where the products of the earth are about four 
times as cheap as in England. But so weighty a scep- 
tre could only be wielded by a hand like Aurungzebe's ; 
and we accordingly find, that in a course of fifty years 
after his death, a succession of weak princes and wicked 
ministers reduced this astonishing empire to nothing." 

The following letter which Aurengzebe (or, accord- 
ing to Rennell, Aurungzebe) wrote to his second son, 
Azim, (called by major Rennell, Azem) may serve as a 
striking and salutary lesson to ambitious prinpes. It is 
preserved in the Memoirs of Eradut Khan, a noble- 
man in the court of Aurungzebe, who wrote in the 
Persian language. A translation of these memoirs, by 
captain Scott, was published in 1786, and which is now 
perfixed to his History of the Deccan from Ferishta's 
original, in 2 vols. 4to. 

To Shaw Azim Shair. 

" Health to thee; my heart is near thee; old age has 
arrived; weakness subdues me; and strength has for- 
saken all my members. I came a stranger into this 
world, and a stranger I depart. I know nothing of 
myself, what I am, and for what I am destined. The 
instant I passed in power has left me only sorrow behind 
it. I have not been the guardian and protector of the 
empire : my valuable time has been passed vainly. I 
had a patron in my own dwelling (conscience) but his 



300 History of all Nations. 

glorious light was unseen by my dim sight. Life is 
not lasting, there, is no vestige of departed breath, and 
all hopes of futurity are lost. The fever has left me, 
but nothing of me remains but skin and bone. My 
son (Kaun Bulsh) though gone toward Bejapore, is still 
near; and thou, my son, art still nearer. The worthy, 
the esteemed Shaw Aulum, is far distant, and my 
grandson Aziem Ooshaun, by the orders of God, is 
arrived near lndostan. The camp and followers help- 
less and alarmed, are, like myself, full of affliction ; 
restless as the quicksilver; separated from their lord, 
they know not whether they have a master or not. 

I brought nothing into this world, and, except the 
infirmities of man, carry nothing out. I have a dread 
of my salvation, and with what torments I ma)^ be pun- 
ished. Though I have strong reliance on the mercies 
and bounty of God, yet, regarding my actions, fear 
will not quit me ; but when I am gone, reflection will 
not remain. Come then what may ; I have launched 
my vessel to the waves. Though Providence will pro- 
tect the camp, yet, regarding appearances, the endea. 
vours of my sons are indispensably incumbent. Give 
my last prayers to my grandson (Bedur Bakht) whom I 
cannot see. But the desire affects me. The Begum 
(his daughter) appears afflicted; but God is the only 
judge of h arts. The foolish thoughts of women pro- 
duce nothing but disappointment. Farewell ! Farewell ! 
Farewell!" 

To the prince Kaun Bulsh, his third son (mentioned 
in the foregoing) he wrote at the same time, and much 
in the same strain. In it he makes use of this strong 
expression: " The fever which troubled me for twelve 
days has left me. Wherever I look I see nothing but 
the Divinity." 

The accounts which are given by Colonel Dow, to- 
gether with other writers, and those by Major Rennell, 
concerning the affairs of the empire during the life-time 



Indostan* 301 

of Aurengzebe's sons, differ in a variety of particulars i 
the latter writer is chiefly followed here. 

His sons were, Mauzum, who became emperor, un- 
der the title of Bahader Shah, (or Shaw) Azim, Kaun 
Bulsh, and Acbar : the latter had engaged in a rebellion 
during his father's reign, and fled to Persia, which ac- 
counts for his not being mentioned in the emperor's 
farewell letter. The contest for power, when Aureng- 
zebe resigned his breath, first arose between Bahader 
Shah and his next brother Azim. The armies which 
they commanded, for the purpose of deciding this 
mighty contest, are said to have consisted of about 
300,000 men each (Rennell, Introd. lxiv.) a battle was 
fought near Agra, in which Azim was slain. Bahader 
Shah is described, by some writers, as a prince of con- 
siderable ability, and great attention to business ; but the 
distracted state of public affairs, and the short interval 
which elapsed between the death of Azim and the ap- 
pearance of his next brother, Kaun Bulsh, in arms to 
dispute with him the empire, caused his government to 
be imbecile and inefficient, although the death of this 
competitor suppressed that commotion. He died in 
1712, as some writers assert, of discontent and grief, 
chiefly brought on by the restless ambition of his own 
sons. He left four, each of whom, on their father's 
death, seized upon what he could most readily acquire. 
Aziem Ooshaun, the second, obtained the treasures, 
but he was presently slain : the youngest Jehaun Shah, 
fell in the next battle. The contest then lay between 
Jehaunder Shah, the eldest, and Bedur Bakht, the third, 
which was decided in favor of the former through the 
intrigues of Zoolfecar Khan, an omrah of vast influence. 
No sooner were Jehaunder's apprehensions of rivalship 
buried in his brother's grave, than, agreeable to the gen- 
eral practice of these voluptuous Asiatics, he abandon- 
ed himself wholly to the pleasures of the seraglio ; but 
a revolution, brought about by Houssein Ali Khan, and 
Abdoolla Khan, brothers, and omrahs of great power, 
placed Feroksere, or Furrukhsir, son of the deceased 



302 History of all ftatiom. 

Aziem Ooshaun on the musnud. This event toot 
place nine months after the elevation of Jehaunder, ac- 
cording to Rennell ; others say eighteen months. 

Furrukhsir was now declared emperor; but whilst 
he was invested with the external appendages of rule, 
the omrahs, who were the means of his advancement, 
reserved to themselves every essential act of power. 
The emperor, dissatisfied at being made the mere stalk- 
ing-horse of state, meditated revenge ; which, accord- 
ing to the pusillanimous malignity which stamps the 
genius of this people, is among them always hidden and 
perfidious. The nobles were apprised of his intentions, 
and by superior address counteracted his designs, and 
caused him to be strangled ; at the same time raising 
Raffael el Dirjaat, or Ruffieh-ul-Dirjat (a prince seven- 
teen years old, a grandson of Bahader Shah) to the 
throne ; but finding that they had mistaken the genius 
of this youth, they took him off by poison, and advan- 
ced his elder brother Raffael el Dowlat, or Ruffieh-ul- 
Dowlat, to the same dignity. All these transactions 
happened in the course of the year 1717. 

It was in the reign of Feroksere that the English 
East-India company obtained the famous firman, or 
grant, by which their goods of export and import were 
exempted from duties or customs; and this was re- 
garded as the company's commercial charter in India, 
while they stood in need of protection from the princes 
of the country. — Rennell, p. Ixvi. 

The exclusive power assumed by these lords in con- 
sequence of their creation and destruction of princes, 
became intolerable to such great families as w r ere not in- 
cluded in their junto : these united, and in order to co- 
lour over their proceedings, undertook to release Ni- 
cosir, a prince of the blood-royal, from a forty years 
imprisonment in the castle of Agra, and to make him 
king ; but this attempt terminated in their defeat ; and 
the unhappy prince, who was drawn in by the ambition 
of others to bear a part in the insurrection, was deprived 
of sight, and delivered over to his former confinement. 



Indostaii. 303 

He soon after died a natural death at Delhi, 1719. The 
same great omrahs maintaining their influence, caused 
Mahommed Shah, another grandson of Bahader Shah, 
to be proclaimed emperor ; who, in a short time, by 
an adroit exercise of his power, effected the destruction 
of the principal family whose influence had adanv- 
ced himself and so many of his predecessors to the 
Musnud. The two brothers, who had been the princi- 
pals in bringing about these successions, were defeated 
and slain, and the emperor found himself actually a so- 
vereign. Too weak to withstand the seductions of un- 
bounded power, he gave himself up to the most crimi- 
nal excesses ; grew quite regardless of the welfare of 
his kingdom ; and permitted the most destructive enor- 
mities to be practised with impunity. The distracted 
state of the kingdom induced Nadir Shah, at the instiga- 
tion of Nizam-al-Muluck, viceroy of the Deccan, who 
was then ninety-four years of age, to invade it in 1738. 
The Nizam died in 1748, at the great age of one hun- 
dred and four years. 

The cruelties committed by this invader, in the city 
of Delhi and its environs, cannot fail to excite horror in 
the most insensible breast. The slightest tumult or 
commotion among the inhabitants, when starving for 
want of provisions, produced orders for a promiscuous 
carnage. Mr. Dow relates, that in one day, in conse- 
quence of an officer being killed by the side of Nadir 
Shah by a musket-shot, one hundred thousand, without 
distinction of age, sex, or condition, were laid dead in 
their blood. " Such were the panic-terror and confusion 
of these poor wretches, (continues he) that instead of 
bravely opposing death, the men threw down their arms, 
and with their wives and children submitted themselves 
like sheep to the slaughter. One Persian soldier often 
butchered a whole family, without meeting with any re- 
sistance. 

The Hindoos, according to their barbarous custom, 
shut up their wives and children, and set fire to their 
apartments, and then threw themselves into the flames ;_ 



304 History of all Nations* 

" death," continues the same author, " was seen in ev- 
ery horrid shape ; and at last seemed rather to be sought 
after than avoided." This massacre was succeeded by 
a general plunder of the city ; the public treasury and 
regalia being first secured. The throne of the emperor, 
known throughout Indostan by the name of " Tukhte- 
Taoos," or " the peacock throne," which was valuer at 
ten crores of rupees, or about twelve millions and a half 
sterling, together with the other regalia, treasures, and 
valuables, amounting to no less than from seventy to 
eighty millions sterling, were all transferred to the con- 
queror. Great cruelties were exercised in extorting a 
discovery of concealed wealth. The damage done to 
the capital and the surviving inhabitants, on this occa- 
sion, was prodigious. 

Ruin and desolation being spread over the city, the 
conqueror thought this a suitable season for celebrating 
the nuptials of his son Mirza Nasir Alii with the daugh- 
ter of Ezidan Busth, grandson of the famous Aureng- 
zebe ; during which transaction the^gates of the city were 
kept shut. Famine began to rage every day more and 
more, but the Shah was deaf to the miseries of mankind. 
The public spirit of Tucki, a famous actor, deserves 
to be recorded upon this occasion. He exhibited a play 
before Nadir Shah, with which that monarch w r as so 
well pleased, that he commanded Tucki to ask what he 
wished should be done for him ; Tucki fell on his face 
and said, " O king, command the gates of this city to 
be opened, that the poor may not perish." His request 
was granted,. and half the city poured into the country, 
and was plentifully supplied, in a few days, with provis- 
ions. 

The king of Persia having obtained all the money 
which could be procured in Delhi, after reinstating Ma- 
hommed Shah in the empire with great solemnity and 
pomp, returned into his own country. A general de- 
fection of the provinces soon after ensued ; none were 
willing to yield obedience to a prince deprived of the 
power to enforce it. The provinces to the north-west of 



Indostan. 305 

the Indus had been ceded to Nadir Shah, who being as- 
sassinated in 1747, Achmet Abdalla, his treasurer, a 
man of great intrepidity, who, like most other Asiatic 
chieftains, knew no restraints from the dictates of con- 
science, when occasions for grasping at power, however 
dishonorable, presented themselves, in the general con- 
fusion occasioned by the tyrant's death, found means to 
carry off three hundred camels loaded with wealth, 
enabled him to assume a sovereignty, and he actually 
became king of Candahar ; after which he put himself 
at the head of an army, and marched against Delhi, ha- 
ving fifty thousand horse at his command. Thus was 
the wealth drawn from Delhi made the means of con- 
tinuing those miseries of war which it had at first 
brought upon them. The affrighted Delhians were 
struck with an universal panic. Ahmed Shah, the 
priuce royal, Kimmer ul Diel, the vizier, with ether 
leading men, in this extremity, took the field with eighty- 
thousand horse, to oppose the invader. The war was 
carried on with various success, and before its termina- 
tion, Mahommed Shah deceased, A. D. 1747, in the 
same year as his cruel conqueror, Nadir Shah. Ahmed 
Shah, the son of Mahommed, then mounted the impe- 
rial throne at Delhi. The empire grew every day more 
into decay. The Mahrattas, a warlike nation, possess- 
ing the western peninsula of India, had, before the inva- 
sion of Nadir Shah, exacted a chout, or tribute, from 
the empire, arising out of the revenues of the Bengal 
province, which being withheld, in consequence of the 
enfeebled state of the empire, they became clamorous. 
The empire began to totter to its foundation ; every petty 
chief, by counterfeiting grants from Delhi, laid claim to 
jaghiers and to districts. The country was rent and 
defaced by civil wars, and groaned under every spe* 
cies of domestic confusion.— -Villainy was practised in 
every form ; all law and religion were trodden under 
foot; the bands of private friendship and connections, 
as well as of society and government, were broken; 
and every individual, as if among a forest of wild beasts, 

2 p 



306 History of all Nations. 

could rely upon nothing but the strength of his own 
arm. 

Ahmed Shah reigned only seven years, being depo- 
sed, in 1753, by Gazi, an omrah of great capacity and 
power; who set Allumguire, a lineal descendant from 
Aurengzebe, as a nominal emperor, upon the throne, 
whom for that purpose he had released from confine- 
ment. The emperor finding himself destitute of the 
authority properly annexed to his dignity, determined 
at any rate to destroy the influence of Gazi ; for which 
purpose he invited Abdalla to support him on the 
throne ; which produced such consequences as the call- 
ing in a foreign hostile power to adjust dissensions has 
ever done. The Persian, after seizing every thing va- 
luable which he could procure, retired, and left Allum- 
guire to weep over his exhausted treasures. At length, 
Gazi seeing no means of maintaining his authority whilst 
the king lived, by a stratagem caused him to be assassi- 
nated, 1760. 

The factions among the great, which rose on the death 
of the emperor, left the country exposed to a fresh inva- 
sion from Abdalla : this was the sixth time he had en- 
tered it. He once more laid the city of Delhi under 
heavy contributions, and enforced the collection with 
such rigour and cruelty, that the unfortunate inhabi- 
tants, driven to despair, took up arms. The Persian, 
on this, ordered a general massacre, which, without in- 
termission, lasted for seven days. A great part of the 
buildings were at the same time reduced to ashes, and 
many thousands, who had escaped the sword, suffered a 
lingering death by famine, sitting upon the smoaking 
ruins of their own houses. Thus the imperial city of 
Delhi, which in the days of its glory extended itself 
seventeen crores, or coss, or about thirty-four miles 
in length, and was said to contain two millions of peo- 
ple, became almost an heap of rubbish. Abdalla now, 
considering himself arbiter of the fate of Indostan., 
marched against the Mahrattas, who alone obstructed 
his views. These had created Jewan Bucht, then 



Indostan. 307 

thirteen years of age, grandson of Allumguire, and son 
of Shah Aelum, emperor. Abdalla defeated these peo- 
ple in a decisve battle, in which the Mahomedan force 
is said to have amounted to 150,000 men, and the army 
of the Mahrattas to 200,000 : the records of Indostan 
do not take notice of any action so obstinate and bloody 
as this. The conquerer then confirmed the young 
Jewan Bucht on the throne, now circumscribed in au- 
thority to the provinces of Delhi. He previously invit- 
ed the father of this youth to Delhi, promising to seat 
him on the throne of his ancestors ; but Shah Allum, 
who was then in Bahar, did not choose to put himself 
in the power of this maker of emperors. After the de- 
parture of Abdalla, Shah Allum made several unsuc- 
cessful attempts to engage the English in his interests. 
At length, says Mr. Bolt, after experiencing various 
calamities, the English company condescended to create 
him their Great Mogul. Dow's History of Indostan. 
HolweWs Interesting Events, part 1. Bolt's Consider- 
ations. 

Recent accounts from India have made us acquainted 
with the melancholy end of this unfortunate emperor. — 
The Rohilla chief, Golam Cawdir, having taken pos- 
session of Delhi in the year 1789, put out the eyes of 
Shah Allum, who soon after suffered an excruciating 
death. Rennell, 365. 

Having spoken of the extent and wealth of Delhi, cu- 
riosity will certainly be gratified by giving some general 
description of that renowned city. 

Delhi, the capital of the province of the same name, is 
situated in 79 degrees E. longitude from London and in 
28 degrees N .latitude, and stands on the river Jemma, 
which divides it into two parts, that last built was erected by 
Shah Jehan, and from the founder was called Jehanabad ; 
but the Europeans give to both the common name of Delhi . 
In the part built by that emperor all the houses enclosed spa- 
cious courts, and in the inner part of these buildings 
the people lodged, to prevent any from approaching the 
place appointed for their women. Most of the great 



308 History of all Nations. 

men had houses without the city, on account of the con- 
veniency of the waters. 

The entrance into the city was by a long street, on 
each side of which were regular arches, under which 
the merchants had their shops. This street led to the 
palace, which was above a mile and a half in circumfe- 
rence. The wall was built of hewn stone, with battle- 
ments, and at every tenth battlement was a tower. 

The extensive stables which were attached to this pa- 
lace, whilst the splendour of the Mogul was at its height, 
were always filled with the finest horses, in which the 
monarch took great delight ; these were brought from 
Arabia, Persia, and Tartary, at a great expence. Before 
every stable-door hung a kind of mat made of reeds, 
and bound together with silk, twisted in the form of 
flowers. These were intended to prevent the flies from 
entering ; but they were not satisfied with this precau- 
tion ; every horse having two grooms, who relieved 
one another, and fanned the animal continually. All 
the day they had carpets over them, and at night they 
lay upon a litter made of their own dung, dried in the 
sun and well pounded. 

In modern times no instance occurs of devastation 
brought on a magnificent city equal to that which over- 
whelmed Delhi ; and perhaps in wealth it was superior 
to the boasted cities of antiquity, whose ancient grand- 
eur is yet to be traced in their stupendous ruins. Du- 
ring the latter part of the last century, it is reported to 
have contained two millions of inhabitants. Nadir Shah 
is supposed to have plundered it of sixty-two millions 
sterling : and even after that, ample gleanings accrued 
to Abdalla. 

The Hindoo or Gentoo History.] "There is no 
known history of Hindoostan," says major . Rennell, 
" (that rests on the foundation of Hindoo materials or 
records) extant, before the period of the Mahomedan 
conquests : for either the Hindoos kept no regular histo- 
ries, or they were alldestroyed, or secluded from com- 
mon eyes by the Pundits. We may judge of their tra- 



Indostan. 309 

ditions in general by that existing concerning Alexan- 
der's expedition: which is, that he fought a great battle 
with the emperor of Hindoostan, near Delhi ; and though 
victorious, retired to Persia across the northern moun- 
tains. So that the remarkable circumstance of his sail- 
ing down the Indus, in which he employed many 
months, is sunk altogether : and yet perhaps few events 
of ancient times, rest on better foundations than this part 
of the history of Alexander. It is chiefly to Persian 
pens that we are indebted for that portion ot Indian his- 
tory which we possess." Memoir of a Map, third 
edition, Introd. p. xl. 

The empire of the Hindoos or Gentoos over all India, 
as tradition maintains, came down from the darkest and 
most remote antiquity to the one hundred and seventieth 
year before the Christian aera, when it was dissolved by 
civil discord and war. Bengal, like many other provin- 
ces, started up into an independent kingdom, and was 
governed by successive dynasties of rajahs, who chiefly- 
resided at the now-deserted capital of Ghor. Under 
these princes it continued a powerful and opulent king- 
dom to the beginning of the thirteenth century, when 
it was first invaded by the Mahomedans, under a prince 
of the race of Chillagi, who possessed the countries 
near the source of the Oxus (the modern Jihon.) — 
The name of this Tartar invader was Easuldien. 
But he was soon after reduced to subjection by Al- 
tamsh, the Patan emperor of Delhi, who formed Ben- 
gal into a province, which was governed by a lieu- 
tenant. 

Bengal, during the dominion of the Patan s in In- 
dia, was frequently subject to revolution and change. 
Akbar, the great, by the expulsion of Daood, the 
last king ; of Bengal of the Patan race, annexed it in 
the year 1574 to h s empire. 

It then became governed by a viceroy, known by the 
names of Nabob, Subah, and Nazim. This officer 
held his dignity only during pleasure. 



3 10 History of all Nations. 

Dreadful have been the oppressions practised on the 
defenceless natives of Indostan : enormous were the 
depredations on the wealthy, and severe the sufferings 
of the poor ; to the latter, destructive monopolies, and 
artificial scarcities, caused a want of those very few ne- 
cessaries which the most abstemious habits of life requir- 
ed. The British legislature was impelled, by every 
principle of humanity and justice, as well as of political 
wisdom and sound policy, to correct such a flagrant abuse 
of power ; for which purpose many salutary laws have 
been passed, and the most effectual measures have been 
taken, with a view to check the rapacity of individuals, 
and to establish a mild and equitable government in the 
country ; in consequence of which, the accounts brought 
for some time past, bear testimony to the good effects 
already produced, and to the tranquility, harmony, and 
prosperity which prevail. 

When France thought fit to interfere in the contention 
between Great-Britain and her American colonies, Pon- 
dicherry first fell a sacrifice to this intriguing spirit; 
but a formidable enemy arising to the English, in the 
person of Heider Alii, a wasteful, destructive, and in- 
glorious war was maintained on the peninsula of India. 
The British fleet was no longer commanded by a Po- 
cock, and admiral sir Hyde Parker, who was sent out 
to restore the tarnished lustre of the nation in those 
seas, was most unhappily lost on his passage thither,' 
Pondicherry once more reverted to France at the peace 
of 1783, but its fortifications had been previously rased, 
and its consequence lost. 

Possessions of the English in Iwdia.— Bengal 
is well known by giving its name to the greatest gulf in 
Asia, which separates the two peninsulas of the Indies. 
This kingdom, which is situated at the N. W. extre- 
mity of the gulf, extends six hundred miles from E. to 
W. and three hundred from N. to S. It consists of one 
vast plain, of the most fertile soil in the world, which, 
in common with other parts of Indostan, renders two, 
and in some parts three crops a year. Its chief produce 



Indostan. 311 

Is sugar, silk, fruits, pepper, opium, rice, salt-petre, 
gum-lack, and civet. It is usually compared to Egypt 
for its fertility., the river Ganges here dividing itself into 
several branches, and annually overflowing the country 
as the Nile does Egypt. 

The British nation possesses, in full sovereignty, the 
whole soubah of Bengal, and the greatest part of Bahar ; 
but in that province there are several pergunnahs on the 
S. W. which are now in possession of the Mahrattas : 
in Orissa they possess only the districts of Midnapour ; 
the rest being entirely in the hands of the Mahrattas, or 
their tributaries. The British possessions in these three 
provinces contain about 150,000 square British miles of 
land, to which, if we add the district of Benares, the 
whole will be 162,000 miles, which is 30,000 more than 
are contained in Great-Britain and Ireland. The native 
inhabitants are estimated at eleven millions. The reve- 
nue, including that of Benares, (which, since the depo- 
sition of Cheit Sing, in 1783, has been fixed at four 
millions of sicca rupees, or 380,000 pounds sterling) 
major Rennell states to have been, in the year 1786, 
about 278 lacks of sicca rupees, valued at 2s. l~d. 
which may be reckoned to 3,790,000 pounds sterling. 
This includes customs, mint, &c. clear of charges, 
120,000 pounds ; salt revenue 430,000 pounds ; and 
opium 60,000 pounds. The subsidy from the nabob 
of Oude is a farther amount of 420,000 pounds, which 
increases the whole to 4,210,000 pounds. The 
various charges arising from collecting the revenue, ci- 
vil and military establishments, marine, and fortifica- 
tions, amount to 2,540,000 pounds. So that the net 
revenue arising from these provinces amounts to 
1,670,000 pounds sterling. 

Government of the Mogul.] The emperor was 
absolute and sole arbiter of every man's fate, and under 
the control of no law. All the lands in India were con- 
sidered as the property of the king, except some dis- 
tricts which were the hereditary possession of certain 
Hindoo princes. The title of Great Mogul appears to 



312 History of all Natio?isX 

have been adopted upon no other authority than that of 
the French missionaries, who in the first publi- 
cation of their travels to the east, have been pleased to 
stile him the Grand Mogul. No appellation or title giv- 
en this monarch in the empire serves to confirm this 
description of him, where he is called simply Shah, or 
Padshah; in Persian meaning king. Bolt's Considera- 
tions, page 22. 

According to the opinion of the Indians, the right of 
succession is vested in the eldest son ; but the last will of 
the Shah very often counteracted this claim of primo- 
geniture. All children born in the haram were alike 
legitimate, whether the issue of wives or concubines. 

The vizier was generally first minister of state. All 
edicts and public deeds were used to pass under his seal, 
after the royal signet was affixed to them. He super- 
intended the royal exchequer, and in that capacity kept 
accounts with the dewans or receivers- general of the pro- 
vinces, in every diing respecting the finances. 

A Vakiel Mutuluck was an officer elected only in 
times of exigency ; and during his continuance the Shah 
delegated to him his whole power, reserving only to 
himself the imperial title and ensigns of royalty. 

The Mogul system of government admitted of no 
hereditary honours. The ranks and degrees of nobility 
were for the most part official, excepting those of the 
military kind. The nobles, or omrahs, consisted of 
three orders : the Emirs, who were the first officers of 
state, and the viceroys of provinces ; the Chans, who 
held high posts in the army ; and the Bahadurs, who 
may in some measure be compared to our knights. — 
The number of which these three orders consisted was 
arbitrary, and each of them had peculiar privileges in 
the empire. 

No princes in the world patronized men of letters 
with more generosity and respect than the Mahomedan 
emperors of Indostan. A genius for literature was not 
only the means to acquire a degree of wealth which must 
astonish Europeans, but an infallible road for rising to 



Indostan. 313 

the first offices in the state. The character of the learned 
was at the same time so sacred, that tyrants, who made 
a pastime of embruing their hands in the blood of their 
other subjects, not only abstained from offering violence 
to men of genius, but stood in fear of their pens. And, 
however amazing it may seem in absolute governments, 
it is certain, that the historians of that division of the 
world have written with more freedom, concerning per- 
sons and things, than writers have dared to do in the 
west. Dow y s Indostan, 

The great officers of state, by a kind of prescription, 
formed a council, similar to the British cabinet. The em- 
peror asked their advice upon affairs of moment; he heard 
their sentiments ; but nothing was decided by vote. — < 
They were his advisers, but they had no controul on his 
power. He frequentlycalled to this council men ininferior 
departments ; and when the deliberation concerned any 
particular province, the nobles best acquainted with that 
part of the empire were admitted into the cabinet. The 
offences of the first rank of nobility came under the 
cognizance of this council, as well as other matters of 
state. They were a kind of grand jury, who found the 
matters of fact, and the sovereign pronounced the sen- 
tence. He might, by his despotic power, issue out a 
warrant of death without their advice ; but the known 
opinions of mankind on that subject bound him like a 
law. 

When the empire was in its vigorous state, as often 
as the king took the field, the provincial nabobs with 
their troops were bound to repair to the imperial stand- 
ard. Each nabob erected his own standard, and formed 
a separate camp, subject to the imperial orders only. — 
There are but few traces of real discipline to be met 
with among those myriads with whom the emperors of In- 
dostan often took the field. The forces of the great Sultan 
Baber alone were formed on a regular and masterly plan. 
The disposition of his battles was extremely judicious; 
and the signal victories he obtained over immense ar- 
mies, with a handful of men, are sufficient to convince 

2 a 



3 14 History of all Nations.. 

us that military discipline has not always been unknown 
in Asia. 

" It may be matter of surprise to an European," 
says Mr. Dow, " how eastern armies of two or three 
hundred thousand horse, and triple that number of sol- 
diers and followers, could be supplied with provisions 
upon their march, and in their standing camps. To 
account for this," continues he, " it is to be observed, 
that every provincial nabob, when he takes the field, 
appoints an officer called the cutwal, whose business it is 
to superintend the bazars, or markets, which shall be- 
long to his camp. Every commander of a body of 
troops obtains at the same time permission to hoist a 
flag for a bazar, and to appoint a cutwal of his own, 
under the direction of the cutwal- general. These cut- 
wals grant licences to chapmen, sutlers, and corn deal- 
ers, who purchase the protection of the different flags 
by a stipulated tax. The pay of the soldiery in Indos- 
tan is very great ; this enables them to give high 
prices for provisions, and the countries round run all 
hazards for such a prospect of advantage. The natural 
fertility of the country enables the inhabitants thus readi- 
ly and plentifully to furnish the armies. 

The Mahomedans, as well as the warlike nations of 
the Hindoos, are fond of the parade of cavalry, of which 
most of their armies are composed; but a great and 
strange defect reigns in these armies : every soldier pro- 
vides his own horse ; if his horse is killed (as it is gene- 
rally impossible for him to furnish another) he is no 
longer a soldier ; his livelihood depends upon his horse 
more than on himself, and according to the value of 
that he receives his pay. It is astonishing that Maho- 
medan princes should ever adopt this maxim; for, al- 
though a Mahomedan, from his faith in predestina- 
tion, ought not to run away to save his own life, he will 
most likely avoid all danger to save his horse; which 
occasions mighty and insurmountable obstacles to their 
ever conquering Europeans. Mrs. Kinder sley" 1 s Letters*, 
page 203. 



Indostan. 315 

Revenues of the Mogul Empire.— The reve- 
nues of the Mogul arose from the produce of the 
ground, the customs of the sea- ports, the estates of 
the great men at their death, wfoch devolved to the 
crown, the presents from his subjects, who never ap- 
proached their prince or governor empty ha: ded, and 
the treasures produced by the diamond mines. The 
viceroy or governor of every province which owned 
subjection to him, was obliged to supply the crown 
with a certain sum, which he raised out of the ma- 
nufactures and produce of the soil. This, added to the 
other revenues, is said to have amounted annually to 
between forty and fifty millions sterling, before Nadir 
Shah ravaged the empire. 

Religions in India. — Mahomedans. — Of the 
Mahomedan religion in India little need be said, as the 
rise, progress, and establishment of Mahomedanism, 
has already been treated of in a former chapter. 

The people of Indostan do not approve of calling 
God good, righteous, merciful, thinking such epithets 
superfluous and impertinent ; as if one was emphatically 
to say of a man that he had a head, or any other mem- 
bers necessary to the human form : for they conceive it 
a profanation of the name of God to associate it with hu- 
man attributes and conceptions ; and that nothing fills 
the idea due to that Being so well as the name itself, 
" a substantive singularity, and forever above the junc- 
tion of an adjective." If this is superstition, it is the 
sublimity of it. 

The ancient and venerable city of Benares, has, from 
time immemorial, been the principal university of Bra- 
minical learning. Major Rennell supposes that towards 
the close of the twelfth century , when Mahomed Gori 
perpetrated the most shocking cruelties upon the Brah- 
mins in that city, and committed every kind of outrage 
and violence upon the objects of their worship, that the 
Sanscrit had, until then, been the current language in 
Hindoostan, and from that period it began to decline in 
its purity, by the admission of words from that of the 



3 IS History of all Jsatiom. 

conquerors, until the language of Hindoostan became 
what it now is ; the original Sanscrit preserved in their 
ancient writings becoming a dead language. Memoir 
of a Map, Introd. page xlvii. 3d edition. 

A remarkable and interesting circumstance in the tra- 
ditional belief of the Hindoos, is, the inconceivable anti- 
quity of the world. In the extent of their belief of this 
fact, they even exceed their neighbours the Chinese, 
and do not fall short of them in circumstantiality of re- 
lation. They reckon the existence of the world by four 
Jogues, or ages. The first they call '■' The Suttee Jo- 
gue." or age of purity ; which they hold to have lasted 
3,200,000 years, and that the life of a man was, in that 
age, extended to 100,000 years, and that his stature was 
twenty-one cubits. The second they call " Tirtah 
Jogue," or the age in which one-third of mankind were 
reprobated. They suppose its duration to have reached 
2,400,000 years, and that men then lived to the age of 
10,000 years. The third they call " The Dwapaar 
Jogue," in which half of the human race became de- 
praved ; this period, they say, continued 1,600,000 
years, and mens lives were reduced to 1000 years. 
The fourth, or " Colle Jogue," in which all mankind 
are corrupted, or, rather lessened, (for such is the 
meaning of Collee) is the present sera, which they 
suppose is ordained to exist for 400,000 years, of which 
near 5000 are already passed; man's life in this pe- 
riod is limited to 100 years. Halhed's Preface, page 
xxxviii. 

To reconcile such wonderful extravagances with the 
sober scriptural relation of the origin of things, would 
be a solution devoutly to be wished, and therefore 
prompts to hazard the following conjectural explanation. 
Let us then consider the first age, or the Suttee Jogue, 
as an angelic state ; and both the Jewish and Christian 
scriptures warrant a belief of such beings existing long 
before mankind was produced. We can only conceive 
of angels as of beings possessing intellectual faculties, 
not differing in their nature, but merely in their degree, 



Indostav. 3 If 

from men ; and the mental powers of men seem to have 
been so enlarged, in the notions of the Hindoos, during 
that period, that they may as well be called embodied 
angels as men. The second age, or Tirtah Jogue, 
bears no essential disagreement with the relation of the 
fall of angels, to which the Jewish and Christian oracles 
bear testimony. The third may be considered as a far- 
ther defection in the angelic host ; and the fourth cor- 
responds, very remarkably, with the Mosaic account 
of the duration of this globe. 

The Hindoos know of no tradition respecting a ge- 
neral deluge. 

The Gentoos have, in all ages, believed in the trans- 
migration of souls, which they denominate Ka , apre- 
waesh and Kayapelut. This latter literally answers to 
the word Metempsychosis. An ancient Shaster, called 
*" TheGeeta," written by Adhea Doom, has a beauti- 
ful stanza upon this system of the transmigration, which 
he compares to a change of dress. 

Thus in English : 

As, throwing 1 aside his old habits, 
A man puts on others that are new j 
So, our lives, quitting the old, 
Go to other new animals. 

Halhed's Preface, p. xlv. 

Hence it is highly probable, that the doctrine of the 
Metempsychosis, by which Pythagoras was so particu- 
larly distinguished, was derived from them, with many 
other articles and modes of worship and opinion, which, 
from certain resemblances, might be traced from the 
same source. Thus, among many other conjectural 
instances, may be quoted the Paphian Venus ; for the 
form of which Tacitus could not account, it rising from 
a broad basis to a narrow point at the top, which is ex- 
actly the figure of the idol in India consecrated to such 
an office as that heathen deity was supposed to preside 



318 History of all A ations. 

over, and to which, on the borders of the Ganges, the 
Gentoo virgins are brought to undergo a kind of super- 
ficial defloration, before they are delivered up to their 
husbands. Mr. Holwell confirms this sentiment ; see 
his Interesting Events in India ; and Raynal has adopt- 
ed it. 

The passage in Tacitus is as follows: " Dea non 
effigie humana, continuus orbis latione initio tenuum in 
ambitum- mete modo exungens, et ratio in obscuro." 
Tacit. Hist. lib. ii. 3. 

This idol, which is worshipped by the Gentoos under 
the name of Jaggernaut, is represented by captain 
Hamilton as pyramidicai black stone, fabled to have 
fallen from heaven, or at least to have miracuously ap- 
peared in the place where they have erected, his temple. 
It appears that this stone is meant for the power presi- 
ding over universal generation, which they attribute to 
the genial heat and influence of the sun acting in subor- 
dination to it, and to whom is addressed the following 
prayer, which the Brahmins especially often repeat 
in a day, with their eyes lifted up toward the sun: 
<( Thou power, which illuminates that resplendent orb, 
deign also to illuminate my mind, so as that I may 
thereby be directed to walk in the way which is most 
pleasing to thee." 

Religion of the Parsees. — There seem to be 
two distinctions necessary to be made in the religion of 
the Parsees, or Gaures, who transplanted themselves 
from Persia, when the Mahometans conquered that 
country : the first, the pure religion, as taught by Zo- 
roaster ; and the second and more modern one, dis- 
figured by various adulterations, as it is at present prac- 
tised among the Parsees of India and Persia. 

Zoroaster flourished under the reign of Hystaspes, 
king of Persia, about five hundred years before the 
birth of our Saviour, and was profoundly versed in 
mathematics and natural philosophy, hence he probably 
derived those sublime notions in relation to fire, on 



Indostan. 319 

which he founded the basis of his religion, and which 
his followers still retain. 

It is however evident that he found an homage paid to 
that element already established in the country, since 
Pyrasums, or conservatories of perennial fire were known 
to be there long before his time ; but whether such 
worship of it was a religious act, or whatever it might 
be, it was accompanied by many idolatrous rites ; and 
Zoroaster exerted himself to purge it of its gross er- 
rors, and reduce it to the two grand points on which he 
founded his religion ; namely, the belief of one Su- 
preme God, and of the sun, or element of fire, being* 
the first minister, and also the symbol of his purity ; 
from these principles the rest of his opinions flowed. 

Some writers maintain that there were two Zoroas- 
ters ; and that the last, arising six hundred years after 
the first, explained and. new modelled his religion, 
which he stripped of the errors and superstitious practi- 
ces by which it had been disfigured. 

Be that as it may, agreeably to the above doctrine, 
the followers of Zoroaster are still so penetrated with 
the idea of the immensity and omnipresence of God, 
that they may esteem it a proof of great narrowness of 
sentiment to erect temples to him, as conveying the 
groveling idea of confining him who fills all space be- 
tween four walls ; hence they make use of that celebrat- 
ed saying, that " There is no temple worthy of the 
majesty of God, except the whole universe, and the 
heart of an honest man." Of all their opinions, they 
esteem.that most sacred, that God was the sole necessa- 
ry self-existent Being from all eternity, and is the su- 
preme author of all good. Hence they detest the 
schism of those Persians who admit the co-eternity of the 
two principles of good and evil, and all the absurdities 
of Manicheism. 

They maintain, since many effects in nature, which 
at the first view appear to be evils, are justified as to the 
wisdom of their causes, by their ultimately issuing in a 
known superior good, therefore it is just we should be- 



32(3 History of all J\ations. 

lieve that all the rest are so, though their ends, probably 
for very wise reasons, are concealed from us. Hence 
they allege, that it is the utmost rashness and impiety to 
infer absolute evil from some individuals occasionally 
appearing to suffer, from those primordial laws to which 
God had subjected all his works in general, without ex- 
cepting man, whose good has been as much consulted 
as was fitting it should be, of which God ought surely 
to be esteemed a competent judge. Hence they deny 
that omnipotence has introduced real evil into nature ; 
and maintain, that no evil actually exists but what is 
imaginary, temporary, and bearing no proportion toreal, 
infinite, and eternal goodness. 

As to fire, they place its source in the sun, to which 
they pay a very high reverence, out of gratitude for 
the numerous benefits which flow from it ; but they 
are so far from confounding the subordination of the 
servant, with the majesty of the Creator, that they attri* 
bute no degree of sense to the sun, or fire, in any of its 
operations ; but consider it as a purely passive, blind in- 
strument, directed and governed by its Creator. They 
even give thatluminary, all- glorious as it is, no more than 
the second rank among his works, reserving the first for 
that stupenduous production of divine power, the mind 
of man. 

They believe the immortality of the soul, and found 
the doctrine of rewards and punishments in the other 
life on the light of reason, which enables them to per- 
ceive the difference between right and wrong; or, to 
speak in their figurative style, the conflict between 
Oroozm the good principle, and Harryman the evil 
one ; or between the flesh and the purer spirit. As to 
future punishments, they exclude material burning from 
forming any part of them, and esteem the element of fire 
too pure and too noble to be employed in the office of 
an executioner. They even pretend, that the fire of 
divine love will moderate the punishments inflicted by 
justice. 

The modern Parsees represent the place of future 
suffering as a dark, dreary, disconsolate region, re- 



IndostaiU 32 1 

plete with horror, pain, and disgust ; caverns abound- 
ing with serpents, water thick like melted pitch, and 
cold as snow. They do not, however, hold these pun- 
ishments to be eternal, but imagine that the guilty suf- 
ferers will be at length delivered, and even placed in a 
state of bliss, but inferior to that of the good, from 
whom they will also be distinguished by a brand in their 
foreheads. In fine, they imagine that, both in degree 
and duration, these punishments will be proportioned 
to human frailty ; but that rewards, like the divine 
goodness, will be infinite and unbounded. 

It is said, that the greatest honour the Parsees think 
they can do to the remains of their deceased friends, is 
to expose them to be devoured by birds of prey ; for 
these living tombs they esteem preferable to any kind of 
sepulchre. About a mile from the city of Surat, they 
have a place to which they carry their dead ; this is 
w r ithin a circular wall, open at the top, twelve feet high, 
and one hundred in circumference. The ground within 
is raised about four feet, and made sloping, that all mois- 
ture may drain from the carcases into a sink made for 
that purpose ; nothing can exhibit a more shocking ap- 
pearance than this burying ground, as it is called, where 
are seen a multitude of dead bodies, loathsome and dis- 
coloured ; some green, some yellow, some with their 
eyes torn out by the vultures, and some with all the flesh 
of their cheeks pulled of; great holes eaten in different 
parts of their bodies, and carcases torn and mangled. 
The vultures, it is observed, will place themselves 
down the wind, in order to enjoy the smell of these car- 
cases; and sometimes cram themselves with human 
flesh till they are scarce able to fly. 

The punishments for crimes chiefly consist in fines ; 
yet, in exact agreement with the Jewish laws, it is 
said, " If a man deprives another of life, the magis- 
trate shall deprive that person of life." If a Brah- 
min deprives any person of life, his life shall not be ta- 
ken in return, but he shall be fined one hundred Ash- 
rufies {which is the most valuable gold coin. ) If a mats 

2 it 



$22 History of all Nations. 

has put out both the eyes of any person, the magistrate 
shall deprive that man of both his eyes, condemn him to 
perpetual imprisonment, and fine him 800 puns of cow- 
ries, (each pun consisting of 80 cowries. ) But although 
in these laws Brahmins are exempted from capital pun- 
ishment, yet they may be degraded, branded, im- 
prisoned for life, or sent into perpetual exile ; but it is 
every where ordained that a Brahmin shall not be put to 
death on any account whatever. In chap. hi. sect. 3 r 
page 109, is the following passage: " If a Brahmin 
should come with intent to murder another, and that 
person has no means of escaping, and cannot save his 
own life but by the death of the Brahmin, in that case, 
if he should kill the Brahmin, the magistrate shall not 
take a fine from him : also, if a cow should attempt to 
kill any person, and there is no way of escaping, that 
person may kill the cow, for the preservation of his own 
life, and in this case he shall not be amenable." It is 
well known, though not expressed in this body of laws, 
that among the Gentoos, criminals sentenced to death 
are not to be strangled, suffocated, or poisoned, but to 
be cut off by the sword, because, without an effusion 
of blood, malefactors are supposed to die with all their 
sins about them ; but shedding their blood is considered 
as expiating their crimes. The unjust punishment of 
Nundcomar, who was hanged on a gibbet, in violation 
of the laws of his country, and even by an ex post jacto 
English law, was aggravated by that circumstance of 
horror, that he died without an effusion of blood. 
Amongst a people so gentle, mild, and compassionate, 
one would not expect to find so cruel a punishment de- 
creed for beating or ill treating a magistrate who had 
been detected in committing a crime : it is decreed that 
the magistrate shall thrust an iron spit through the of- 
fender, and roast him at the fire. So high a sense is en- 
tertained of the sacredness of magistracy, even when the 
magistrate has committed a crime, that one of the most 
cruel deaths, which human ingenuity can invent, is in- 
curred by insulting it, and the offence is expressly com- 



Xndostan. 323 

pared to the greatest act of human depravity which these 
people can conceive of, namely, the murdering of an 
hundred Brahmins ! but a Brahmin thus offending is not 
to suffer death, but to be fined 100 Ashrufies. 

The laws respecting women being extremely curious, 
we shall select the following ; — " If a man by force 
commits adultery with a woman of an equal or inferior 
cast, against her consent, the magistrate shall confiscate 
all his possessions, cut off his privy members, and cause 
him to be led round the city, mounted upon an ass. " If 
a man by cunning or deceit commits the act with a wo- 
man of an equal or inferior cast, the offender shall lose all 
his possessions, be branded in the forehead, and banished 
the kingdom. If, either by force or cunning, a man 
commits the act with a woman of a superior cast, the 
magistrate shall deprive him of life. " If a woman of 
bad character, (except the wife of a Brahmin) who has 
no master, of her own accord goes to a man for a crimi- 
nal purpose, that man, after having given information to 
the magistrate, may have carnal knowledge of her, and 
is not liable to punishment." " It is proper for a wo- 
man, after her husband's death, to burn herself in the 
fire with his corpse ; every woman v/ho thus burns her- 
self shall remain in paradise with her husband three crore 
and fifty lacks of years, by destiny : if she cannot burn, 
she must, in that case, preserve an inviolable chastity : 
if she remains always chaste she goes to paradise ; if she 
does not preserve her chastity, she goes to hell." See 
a particular account of the several instances of the cere- 
mony attending these self-devoted victims, in Payne's 
System of Geography, vol. 1. page 191, 192, and 
193. 

The ordeal trials of melted lead, or boiling oil, as 
practised here, are considered by the Gentoos as a 
standing miracle. The ceremony is performed with 
great solemnity. The party who has appealed to this 
trial, for his innocence, whether on suspicion of mur- 
der, theft, conjugal infidelity in the women, or even in 



324 History of all Nations. 

denying a debt, is publicly brought to the side of the 
fire,' on which is a cauldron, or ladle-full of boiling wa- 
ter, or oil, but most commonly melted lead ; the prince 
or magistrates of the country being present, his hand is 
previously clean washed, and a leaf of the bab-tree, with 
the accusation written upon it, is girt round his waist ; 
and then on the solemn invocation of the Deity by a 
Brahmin, the person plunges in his hand, scoops up the 
boiling fluid, and if he draws it out unhurt is absolved, 
otherwise he receives the punishment prescribed by the 
laws for the crime against which the accusation lay ; 
and so firm is the belief in this method of purgation on 
the coast of Malabar, that even some of the Indian 
Christians and Moors, fearless of pain, maiming, and 
disgrace, have voluntarily submitted their cause to that 
decision ; but such no doubt had previously taken the 
prober measures to secure this miraculous confirmation 
of their innocence. 

This method of discriminating between guilt and in- 
nocence, is mentioned in the third chapter of the code of 
Genfoo laws, (which treats of justice) under the name 
of Purrekch, and Mr. Halhed says, in his preface, p. 
lviii, that, ** the modes of this ordeal are various in In- 
dia, according to the choice of the parties, or the nature 
of the offence ; but the infallibility of the result is, to 
this day, as implicitly believed as it could have been in 
the darkest ages of antiquity. " 

Singular as this practice is, the Gentoos do not appear 
to be the only people who retain it, for we are told that 
the Poglizans, a people inhabiting some of the islands 
and a part of the coast of Dalmatia, at this day make use 
of proofs by fire and boiling water, to discriminate 
between suik and innocence, and the victims of this 
institution are sometimes seen disabled and half roast- 
ed. See Abbe Fortis 1 Travels into Dalmatian page 
251. 

Tribes or Casts of the Gentoos, or Hin- 
doos. — Gentio is a Portuguese word, meaning Gen? 
tile, by which general appellation all the natives of India 



Indostan. 325 

were at first called, whether they were Mahomedans or 
Hindoos: but the English, and other nations, have 
adopted the term Gentoo, to distinguish the Hindoos, 
or followers of Brimha, from the Mahometans, or Mus- 
sulmans, whom they commonly, though improperly, 
called Moors, or Moormen. Bolts' Considerations on 
Indian Affairs. 

The Hindoos have from all antiquity been divided 
into four great tribes, each of which comprehends a va- 
riety of inferior casts. These tribes do not intermarry, 
eat, drink, or in any manner associate with one another, 
except when they worship at the temple of Jagganaut, 
(the being who is said to preside over the present pe- 
riod) in Orissa, where it is held a crime to make any 
distinction. 

The first and most noble tribe are the Brahmins, who 
alone can officiate in the priesthood, like the Levites 
among the Jews. They are not, however, excluded 
from government, trade, or agriculture, though they are 
strictly prohibited from all menial offices by their laws. 
They derive their name from Brimha, whom they alle- 
gorically say produced the Brahmins from his head 
when he created the world. The second in order is the 
Chehteree tribe. They, according to their original in- 
stitution, ought to be all military men, but they fre- 
quently follow other professions. Brimha is said to have 
produced the Chehteree from his heart, as an emblem 
of that courage which warriors should possess. The 
name of Beise, or Bice, is given to the third tribe. They 
are for the most part merchants, bankers, and cunias, 
or shopkeepers. They are figuratively said to have 
sprung from the belly of Brimha ; the word Beish sig- 
nifying a provider or nourisher. The fourth tribe is 
that of Sooder. They ought to be menial servants, 
and they are incapable of raising themselves to any su- 
perior rank. These are said to have proceeded from 
the feet of Brimha, in allusion to their low degree. But 
indeed it is contrary to the inviolable laws of the Hin- 
doos, that any person should rise from an inferior cast 



326 History o f all Nations . 

into an higher tribe. If any, therefore, should be ex- 
communicated from any of the four tribes, he and his 
posterity are for ever shut out from the society of every 
cast in the nation. This severity prevents all intermix- 
ture of blood between the tribes, so that in their appear- 
ance they seem rather four different nations than mem- 
bers of the same community. 

The attachment of an Hindoo to the peculiar tenets of 
his religion as well as to his tribe, cannot be more strongly 
instanced than in the following anecdote, from Mr. Ve- 
relsVs account of Bengal. 

" An Hindoo had been bribed to procure some pa- 
pers belonging to a gentleman who died in the compa- 
ny's service. The son caught him in the fact; and, in 
revenge of his treachery, compelled him to swallow a 
spoonful of broth. Ridiculous as the punishment may 
seem, it was attended with very serious consequences. 
No sooner was his pollution known, than he was degrad- 
ed from his cast, lost all the benefits of society, and was 
avoided as a leper by his tribe. " When a man is thus 
disgraced, he is henceforth obliged to herd with the 
Hallachores, " who (says Mr. Scrafton) can scarcely 
be called a tribe, being the refuse of all tribes. These 
are a set of poor unhappy wretches, destined to misery 
from their birth. They perform all the vilest offices in 
life, bury the dead, and carry away every thing that is 
polluted. They are held in such abomination, that on 
the Malabar side of India, if one of these chances to 
touch a man of a superior tribe, he draws his sabre and 
cuts him down on the spot, without any check from his 
own conscience, or from the laws of the country." In 
this miserable situation was the above poor Hindoo, 
when lord Clive prevailed on the Brahmins to assemble, 
and consult if there could not be a remission of an invo- 
luntary deviation from their law : after much delibera- 
tion, the Brahmins affected a compliance, but the man 
was never restored to his tribe. According to Mr. 
Halhed, a man born of a mixed cast is called a JBiirrun- 
bunker. Code of Gentoo Laws, p. 42. 



Indostan. 327 

The Mahometan governors often take advantage of 
this principle, when they want to extort money ; and 
so highly do the Hindoos value their religious purity, 
that after they have borne the severest corporeal punish- 
ment rather than discover their wealth, a threat of defile- 
ment will effect what torture has attempted in vain. Ve- 
relsfs Present State of Bengal, p. 142. 

From the difference of casts, (a Portuguese word, 
importing a class or tribe) of the Hindoos in Indostan, 
there arises a difference of education ; but even the in- 
ferior classes are taught reading, writing, and arithme- 
tic. The youth are taught, not within doors, but in 
the open air ; and it is a spectacle, no less pleasing than 
singular, to see, in every village, a very old man, re- 
clined on a terraced plain, teaching a number of sur- 
rounding boys, who regard him with the utmost reve- 
rence and attention. In those simple seminaries, the 
gentle Hindoos are not only prepared for the businesses, 
but instructed in the duties oflife ; consisting in a pro- 
found veneration for the object or objects of religious 
worship, reverence for their parents, respect for their 
seniors, justice and humanity towards all men, but a 
particular affection for those of their own cast. Mack- 
intosh'' s Travels, \. 323. 

This distinction of the Gentoos into casts or tribes, 
forms a remarkable peculiarity in their religion and go- 
vernment, and has both its conveniencies and inconve- 
niencies. Thus great injustice is frequently done to 
genius and talents, to which they pay no regard, nor 
make any allowance for that infinite diversity produced 
by nature. Thus some are confined to make an insig- 
nificant figure in one sphere, who might shine in ano- 
ther. 

As most of these tribes have a chief, who is in some 
measure accountable for the conduct of the individuals 
of which his tribe is composed, this regulation gratifies 
the views of government ; the individuals, on any ne- 
cessary occasion, being either numbered or assembled 
with ease and expedition. 



328 History of all Nations. 

Among the nairs, or nobles, principally prevails the 
strange custom of one wife being common to a num- 
ber ; in which the great power of custom is seen, in its 
never producing any jealousies or quarrels among those 
who possess the same woman. Beside, the number of 
these husbands is not so much limited by any specific 
law, as by a kind of tacit convention, by which it seldom 
happens that it exceeds six or seven. The woman is, 
however, under no obligation to admit more than a sin- 
gle attachment, though she is not the less respected for 
using her privilege in the utmost extent ; and they are 
sometimes said to have twelve husbands ; but they, as 
well as she, must be all of the same tribe. 

When the daughter of a nair is married to the first of 
her husbands, he builds her a house, in which he alone 
cohabits with her, till she takes a second. The hus- 
bands all agree, and cohabit with her by turns, accord- 
ing to their priority of marriage, each eight or ten days, 
or as they can fix the term among themselves ; and he 
who lives with her during that time provides for her 
support. When the man who cohabits with her goes 
into her house, he leaves his arms at the door, and none 
dare remove them, or enter the house, on pain of death ; 
but if there are no arms to guard the door, any of them 
may freely visit her. During the time of cohabitation, 
she serves her husband as purveyor and cook ; she also 
takes care to keep his clothes and arms clean. When 
she proves with child, she nominates its father, who 
takes care of its education, after she has suckled it, and 
taught it to walk and speak ; but from the impossibility 
of assigning the true heir, the estates of the husbands 
descend to the sister's children, and if there are no such 
heirs, then to the nearest in blood to the grandmother.-— 
Payne. 



Jew s^ or Hebrews. 329 



SHAPTER XXXII. 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS, OR HEBKEWS. 

This rich and beautiful tract of country was first called 
the land of Canaan, from Noah's grandson, by whom it 
was peopled : but in latter ages it has been distinguished 
by various other names ; such as the Land of Promise, 
the Holy Land, Palestine, Judea, and the Land of 
Israel.* 

The serenity of the air, the fertility of the soil, and 
the incom parable excellence of the fruits of Palestine, 
induced Moses to describe it "as a land that flowed 
with milk and honey, &c." But in consequence of the 
just anger of God, the greater part of it is now reduced to 
a mere desart, and apparently incapable of cultivation. 

In the reign of king Solomon it was divided into 
twelve districts, each under a peculiar officer ; and, in 
the time of his unfortunate son, Rehoboam, a more fa- 
tal division was effected by the revolt of ten tribes, who, 
under the conduct of Jeroboam, established a new mo- 
narchy, which they called the kingdom of Israel, in op- 
posrion to that of Judah. " 

The Jews were originally wandering shepherds. The 
Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Phoenicians, 
were long established before them ; they did not ac- 
quire a fixed establishment till uheir return from Egypt. 
The Jews, confined to a small territory, and from prin- 



* This country once extended from the rive!* Euphrates to the Mediter- 
ranean sea ; its present extent is only two hundred miles in length, and 
eighty in breadth. Palestine is peculiarly famous, as being the place of 
our Saviour's incarnation, miracles, and death. In this country is the river 
Jordan, famous for the baptism of Christ, and for several other remarkable 
©rents recorded in scripture. The present inhabitants of Palestine are 
Christians. Jews, ajid Mahometans. 

2 s 



330 History of all Nations. 

ciple unwilling to mix with other people, they continued 
long in obscurity. They lived under a theocratical go- 
vernment,* directed by the immediate orders of the Su- 
preme Being : a chain of miracles subverting the order 
of nature, and a train of uncommon actions, explained 
by supernatural principles, rendered them a peculiar 
people. " Their religious laws were blended with their 
civil laws ; indeed the whole was a religious duty, be- 
cause it was ordained by God ; but as that salutary re- 
straint, the fear of the Lord, does not always check the 
passions ; and as the Jews guarded themselves only by 
the senses, they had scarcely any idea of a future state ; 
therefore, there were dreadful threatenings and severe 
punishments denounced against offenders. He who 
broke the sabbath was stoned ; and it was a breach of 
the sabbath to perform any sort of work, to make any 
kind of purchase, or even to light a fire ! Children who 
obstinately disobeyed their parents, were punished with 
death. A blasphemer, an idolater, or an adulterer, 
might be instantly stoned without any form of trial. 
Such executions were called the decree of zeal, but 
might they not sometimes become the decrees of ha- 
tred and fanaticism? Insolvent debtors were madeslaves. 
Crimes which were looked upon as trivial by other na- 
tions, were frequently punished with death by the 
Jews. 

An endless number of expiations, legal ceremonies, 
and precepts, served to keep this fickle people in sub- 
jection. There were a number of animals which they 
were forbidden to eat, such as the hog, the hare, the 
rabbit ; crawling insects, and fish without fins or scales. 
These animals were reputed to be unclean. 

The ashes of a red heifer were absolutely necessary 
in the greatest part of their expiations ; and the waters 
of jealousy, which were employed when a man suspect- 
ed his wife of infidelity, seem very much to resemble 



* Namely : a government under God himself. 



Jews, or Hebrews. 331 

our ancient judicial trials. Bitter herbs mixed with 
holy water, and a form of imprecation, accompanied 
with some religious ceremonies, made the bellies of the 
guilty swell and burst.* The law of grace has abolished 
all these customs, as well as circumcision, which was 
positively commended to the Jews. They, like most of 
other nations, offered human sacrifices. Every seventh 
year was sabbatical, and then all the labours of agricul- 
ture were suspended ; they gave their harvest to the 
poor, to strangers, and to orphans, and freedom to their 
slaves, discharging all debts which were owing to them 
by Israelites They likewise did the same at their jubi- 
lee, which was celebrated every fiftieth year. At that 
period, every one resumed his property, in whatever 
manner it had been alienated. The desire of perpetuat- 
ing families occasioned this law, which could not be 
reconciled with the common course of transactions, in 
a great and wealthy nation. They had six cities of re- 
fuge, but they served as sanctuaries to protect those who 
fled to them from the severity of justice, in case of in- 
voluntary homicide ; but assassins might be torn, even 
from the altar, to suffer death. 

Though the tribe of Levi, according to Jacob's pro- 
phecy, was to be dispersed among the others, and the 
Priests andLevites, according to a law in Deuteronomy, 
could have only the tythes, the offerings, and the ran- 
som of the first born for their portion, yet the priests 
seem to have been very well provided for. They had 
the possession of forty cities; they collected several 
kinds of tythes ; the first fruits and offerings were very 
considerable. Things vowed to God, except lands and 
cattle, and the fruits of the earth, might be redeemed by 
money : and these vows added greatly to the wealth of 
the priesthood. The chief priests exercised very great 
powers even in civil affairs : and Moses ordained that, 
in all difficulties, the people should have recourse to the 



* See Numbers, chap. 5 & 24, &c. 



532 History df all Nations. 

priests and judges, and, upon pain of death, abide by 
their decisions. From different regulations, which are 
proper for a theocracy, many false consequences, con- 
trary to sound government, have been deduced. 
/All strangers, their language, history, arts* and sci- 
ences, were looked upon with horror or contempt by 
the Jews. They were entirely ignorant of navigation 
and astronomy, when they returned from Babylon. 
However, they certainly brought from Egypt some of 
the natural knowledge and customs of that country. 
They always concealed their sacred books from the rest 
of mankind ; and Ptolomy Philadelphia having pro- 
cured a translation of them, they instituted a solemn 
fast for what they deemed a vast misfortune. 

The religion of the Jews, though formerly clouded 
with mysterious ceremonies, and now totally eclipsed 
by the radiance of the Gospel, must ever be considered 
as an object of veneration ; since its institution, benefits, 
and great rewards, arc wholly attributed to God. Their 
laivs were admirably adapted to honour their Creator, 
and to render themselves completely happy ; sacrifices 
were at once calculated to remind them of their failings, 
which required a diurnal atonement, and to shadow 
forth the vicarious sacrifice that should, " in the fulness 
of time," be offered for the sins of the world ; and even 
their most trivial ceremonies were replete with instruc- 
tion, or typical of the giacious designs of the Al- 
mighty. 

Their customs, both civil and religious, were chiefly 
founded upon their laws. S- me of the most particular 
are here selected for the gratification of the curious. 

The rite of circumcision was always accon panied 
with great feasting and other demonstrations of joy. 
At this time the child was named in the presence of the 
company ; after which the master of the house took a 
cupful of wine, blessing his Creator, sipped a little of 
it, and passed it round to his friends. 

Whether thejr sat or lay down at their repasts, is a 
controversy of small importance ; the former custcm 



Jews, or Hebrews. 33S 

iseems to have prevailed before the captivity ; but the 
latter was certainly adopted at the time of our Saviour's 
institution of the holy sacrament. 

Marriage does not appear to have been accompanied 
with any religious ceremony ; such as going to the tern* 
pie, offering sacrifices, or requiring the benediction of a 
priest. When a contract was formed by the parties and 
relations on both sides, the bridegroom was introduced 
to his bride, a solemn agreement was signed before wit- 
nesses ; and the bride, after some time, was sent to her 
new habitation, with songs, dances, and the melodies of 
various musical instruments. 

Their diet, except on festivals, seems to have been 
extremely plain ; for Boaz, a man of considerable pro- 
perty, complimented Ruth with eating of the same 
bread, drinking of the same water, and dipping her mor- 
sel in vinegar with him. The present of victuals 
brought to David, whilst he laboured under the perse- 
cution of .Saul, consisted of bread, raisins, parched 
corn, a few sheep, and two bottles of wine. Honey was 
esteemed a peculiar delicacy, and the milk of the goats 
and the fleece of the flock, were pronounced by the wise 
men sufficient for food and raiment, both for the master 
and his family. 

Their high places were of two sorts : those where 
they burned incense and offered sacrifices to the 
true God ; and those where they committed various 
abominable idolatries. Both the^e became so common 
and universal, that few kings had the courage to destroy 
the latter, notwithstanding the repeated admonitions of 
the holy prophets. 

The same spirit of dissipation, which induced the Is- 
raelites to direct their worship to dumb idols, led them 
gradually into the practice of divination and necromancy, 
though the law of Moses expressly enjoined, that such 
persons should be put to death. 

Their mourning for the death of any near relation, or 
for any melancholy accident, was expressed by rending 
their garments, tearing their hair, heaping dirt or ashes 



334 History of all Nations. 

upon their heads, wearing sackcloth next their skin, and 
lying upon the bare ground. 

Their language was the Hebrew ; the genius of which 
is pure, primitive, natural, and strictly conformable to 
the simplicity of the Jewish patriarchs : and it is highly 
probable, that not only they, but all their trading neigh- 
bors, had the art of writing very early ; though it is 
impossible to determine whether each nation had a pecu- 
liar character of their own, or the same in common to 
them all. 

The arms like those of the ancient nations, were 
either offensive or defensive. The former consisted 
of broad crooked swords, javelins, slings, bows and ar- 
rows, and two-edged swords ; the latter were shields, 
helmets, coats of mail, breast plates, and targets. — 
These arms were commonly made of brass and some- 
times of iron or steel. 

Few trades or manufactures were carried on among 
the Jews before the reign of Solomon, except such as 
were absolutely necessary. They built their own houses, 
and their wives and servants attended to all domestic 
avocations. The dress of the men consisted of linen 
drawers and tunics, over which they threw a loose gar- 
ment of woollen when they went abroad. 

The dress of the women, especially the higher class, 
was more curious, as they bestowed more ornament up- 
on it, chiefly of needle- work, which was within their own 
province. They also wore jewels of gold and silver, which 
were first brought from Egypt, and afterwards augment- 
ed by the spoil of their enemies, and their commerce 
with Tyre : After Solomon's time pride and luxury 
increased so rapidly, that the prophet Isaiah has spent a 
whole chapter in enumerating the costly ornaments 
with which the female Israelites used to decorate their 
persons. 



Jews, or Hebrews, 335 



CURIOSITIES OF PALESTINE. 

Among the remarkable curiosities of Palestine 
may be justly reckoned various petrifactions in the 
neighborhood of Mount Carmel, which bear the most 
exact resemblance to citrons, melons, olives, peaches, 
and other vegetable productions. Here are also found a 
kind of oysters, and bunches of grapes of the same 
consistence. Small round stones, resembling peas, have 
been frequently seen on a spot of ground near Rachel's 
tomb, not far from Bethlehem. On the same road is a 
fountain, honored with the name of et Apostle's Foun- 
tain ;" and a Uttle farther is a barren, rugged, and dis- 
mal solitude, to which our Saviour retired, and was 
tempted by the devil. In this desart appears a steep 
and craggy mountain, on the summit of which are two 
chapels. There are also several gloomy caverns in the 
neighborhood, formerly the solitary retreat of Christian 
anchorite. 

Among the artificial varieties may be considered the 
ruins of Ptolemais, or St. John D'Acre which still retain 
many vestiges of ancient magnificence ; such as the 
remains of a noble Gothic cathedral, formerly dedicated 
to St. Andrew ; the church of St. John, the titular saint 
of the city ; the convents of the knights hospitallers ; 
and the palace of their grand master. The remains of 
Sebaste, the ancient Samaria, though long ago laid in 
ruins, and great part of it turned into arable land, exhi- 
bit some marks of those sumptuous edifices with which 
it was adorned by king Herod. Towards the north side 
is a large square piazza, encompassed with marble pil- 
lars, together with the fragments of strong walls at some 
distance. But the most remarkable object is a church, 
said to have been built by the empress Helena over the 
place where St. John the Baptist was beheaded, the 
dome of which, together with some beautiful columns, 
capitals, and mosaic work, prove it to have been a noble 
fabric. 



33§ History of all Nations. 

Jacob's well is highly venerated by Christian travel- 
lers, on account of its antiquity, and of our Redeemer's 
conference with the woman of Samaria. It is hewn 
out of the solid rock, about thirty -five yards in depth, 
and three in diameter, and is at present covered with a 
stone vault. 

The famous pools of Gihon and Bethesda may be 
ranked among the most stately ruins; the former is situ- 
ated about a quarter of a mile from Bethlehem gate 
westward : Its length is a hundred and six paces, and 
its breadth sixty-seven. It is lined with wall and plaister, 
and contains a considerable store of water. The other, 
at Jerusalem, is one hundred and twenty paces long, 
forty broad, ad eighty deep ; but at present dry. 

In the city of Bethlehem they pretend to shew the 
stable and manger where the adorable Messiah lay at 
the period of his nativity ; and exhibit a grotto hewn 
out of a chalky rock, in which they affirm the blessed 
virgin concealed herself and holy child from the perse- 
cution of Herod. 

At Nazareth is a magnificent church under ground, 
said to occupy the very cave where the virgin Mary re- 
ceived the angel's salutation, and where two beautiful 
pillars of granite are erected in commemoration of that 
interesting event. At a small distance are some fine re- 
mains of a larger chu v ch, supposed to have been erected 
in the time of the empress Helena. But this is much 
inferior to the great church built over our Saviour's se- 
pulchre, by the same empress, and called the church of 
the Holy Sepulchre. 

The last class of artificial curiosities worthy of no- 
tice, is that of the sepulchral monuments, which are 
scattered all over the country ; and of which the most 
remarkable are selected for the reader's gratification. 

The tomb of the holy virgin, situated near Jerusalem, 
iu the valley of Jehosaphat, to which there is a de- 
scent by a magnificent flight of steps, has on the right 
hand side the sepulchre of St. Anna, the mother, and on 
the left, that of Joseph, the husband of Mary. In each 



Jews, or Hebrews, 337 

division are altars for the celebration of divine worship ; 
and the whole is cut out of the solid rock. 

But the most curious and magnificent pieces of anti- 
quity of this kind are royal supulchres without the 
walls of Jerusalem : they are all hewn out of the solid 
marble rock, and contain several spacious and elaborate 
apartments. On the eastern side is the entrance leading 
to a stately court, about one hundred and twenty feet 
square, neatly wrought and polished. On the south side 
of it is a sumptuous portico, embellished in front with a 
kind of architrave, and supported by columns; and on 
the left of the portico is a descent into the sepulchral 
apartments. 

The first of these is a handsome room, about twenty- 
four feet square, formed with such neatness and accuracy 
that it ma}^ justly be stiled a beautiful chamber, hollow- 
ed out of one piece of marble. From this room are 
three passages leading to other chambers of a similar 
fabric, but of different dimensions ; in each of which 
(the first excepted) are stone coffins placed in niches, 
that were once covered with semi-circular lids, embellish- 
ed with flowers, garlands, &c. but now broken to pieces. 
The door-cases, hinges, pivots, &c. are all of the same 
stone with the other parts of these rooms, and even the 
doors appear to have been cut out of the very piece 
to which they hang. Why these grots are honored with, 
the appellation of the sepulchres of the kings is not ex- 
actly known, but whoever views them with any de- 
gree of attention must be induced to pronounce them a 
royal work, and to regard them as the most authentic 
remains of the old regal splendour, that are to be met 
with in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. 



2 $ 



338 History of all JSations. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 
JAPAN OR SIPHON. 

The empire of Japan is called by the natives Niphon, 
which signifies the foundation of the sun ; the largest 
island giving its name to the two smaller ones which be- 
long to it. By the Chinese this country is called Zip. 
pon, or Siphon. 

The government and religion of the Japanese are so 
closely connected with their pretended origin, that it is 
impossible to separate them. These people are highly 
offended at the supposition of their being descended from 
the Chinese, or any other nation ; for they assert that 
they arose within the compass of their own empire, and 
esteem themselves the offspring of their gods, who dur- 
ing an inconceivable number of ages, governed that em- 
pire, in a regular succession from father to son. Of 
these gods they imagine there were two races ; the first 
perfectly divine ; and the last, which descended from 
the former, partly divine and partly human. But who 
were the subjects of these imaginary deities, they do 
not presume to determine ; for they imagine that the 
present inhabitants were descended from Awase Dsu 
No Mikotto, the last of this second race ; and that their 
original ancestors were all of them his children by his 
wife the goddess Isarami No Mikotto. Thus, though 
they trace their original, as descended from the gods, even 
higher than the Chinese (for each of these imaginary 
deities reigned during a long succession of ages) yet 
they date the origin of the present inhabitants so late as 
about 600 years before Christ, when the genuine history 
of Japan begins with the reign of Sin Mu Ten Oo, the 
eldest son of Awase Dsu No Mikotto. To the dairi, 
or ecclesiastical hereditary emperors, who were said to 
descend in a direct line from the eldest branch of their 
fabulous ancestors, the people attributed an almost di- 
vine power, and an unlimited authority over their fellow- 



Japan or Siphon. 339 

creatures ; while these emperors, proud of their illus- 
trious and divine extraction, assumed a superstitious 
holiness, supported by the utmost pomp and magnifi- 
cence. As they were respected as gods, they thought 
it beneath their dignity to trouble themselves with the 
management of political affairs ; these therefore they 
left to the laity. In consequence of this, the power of 
the nobility increased ; and those princes of the empire 
not only made themselves sovereign and independent in 
the provinces committed to their government, but quar- 
relling among themselves, attempted by force to dispos- 
sess each other of their dominions. Hence were pro- 
duced all the train of evils which spring from ambition, 
jealousy, rancorous hate, and the thirst of revenge. 

At length, in order to stop the defection and check 
the ambition of the princes of the empire, the crown- 
general was sent against them at the head of the impe- 
rial army. The important post of commander in chief 
was commonly intrusted to one of the emperor's sons, 
and in course of time this post gave rise to the secular 
monarchy: for about 500 years ago, Joritomo, the 
crown- general, being disappointed in his hopes of suc- 
ceeding to the imperial throne, assumed the sovereignty 
in secular affairs ; and is therefore mentioned in the his- 
tory of Japan as the first secular sovereign. The pow- 
er of the ecclesiastical monarch was, however, still very 
great; and he retained the privilege of nominating the 
person who should succeed to the secular authority ; 
but, in the sixteenth century, the person who at that 
time held this great oifice made himself absolute in the 
secular government of the empire. He was the dairi's 
second son ; and the laws of primogeniture depriving 
him of the hope to attain absolute authority from heredi- 
tary or divine right, he availed himself of the military 
force of the country, which he held under his control, 
to wrest from the emperor, his father, all authority 
over secular affairs. But the functions which he had 
thus assumed he did not quietly exercise, for several of 
the powerful princes of the empire contended for their 



340 History ofallJ\atio?is. 

wonted independence; till at length in the year 1583, 
a common soldier, named Taico, or Tayckoy, a man 
of an obscure birth, but of a bold and daring spirit, 
assisted by strong natural talents, obtained the crown. 
At first, indeed, he had only fifty soldiers, who were 
of intrepid courage; but their number soon increased 
to a numerous army, and he carried on his conquests 
with great celerity and uninterrupted success: so that 
in a few years he subdued all the petty princes, took 
their cities and castles, seated himself on the imperial 
throne, and the dairi, or ecclesiastical emperor, was 
compelled to yield him the entire possession of the se- 
cular government; while he, sensible how dangerous 
the attempt would be to combat those deeply- rooted 
prejudices which both the military and the people at 
large cherished in favour of their ancient monarchs and 
high priests, readily acknowledged him to be supreme 
in spirituals, and to enjoy those high honours and pre- 
rogatives which had ever been inseparable from his 
office. To reduce the pride of the nobility, and hold 
them in subjection, he obliged them to bring their 
wives and families to his court at Jedo, where they were 
to remain as hostages of their fidelity whilst they resid- 
ed on their governments, and they themselves were re- 
quired to attend him six months in the year, and annu- 
ally to renew their oath of fidelity. 

This great revolution was completed in the year 1617. 
His son Tayckossama was a minor at the time of his 
father's death ; he was murdered by the prince who had 
been appointed by Tayckoy regent during the minority. 
By this murder the crown passed to the family of Jejas- 
sama, in which it still continues. Taico and his suc- 
cessors contented themselves with the title of cubo, 
which under the dairi was that of prime minister. 

The ambition of the princes of the empire being thus 
curbed, and their power broken, Taico proceeded to se- 
cure the new-modelled government from the seditious 
rage of the licentious vulgar, by a new system of laws; 
which were perhaps the most severe that ever were en- 



Japan or Siphon* 341 

acted since the days of Draco, and like them may be 
said to be written with blood ; for there is scarcely a 
crime that is not publicly punished with death, except 
the criminal be a prince, and then he has only the privi- 
lege of dispatching himself in private, which is com- 
monly done by ripping up his own bowels. In this case 
the emperor sends his order by letter, which if not im- 
mediately complied with, the person is either put to the 
most excruciating tortures, or, if he be a prince of the 
royal blood, banished to some barren island, where he 
is perhaps forced to lead a life more severe and painful 
than death itself. But in other cases, the criminal is no 
sooner found guilty than he is hurried to execution. 
Kempher asserts, that a lie, or prevarication ; theft, 
though of the slightest kind ; a breach of the peace ; a 
blow with a sword, even though sheathed in the scab- 
bard ; cheating, even at play ; detraction, or any other 
injury done to a man's character, are all punished with 
death : for mere chastisements are seldom used but by 
the lords to their slaves. In some provinces, lathers of 
families, except those of the lower rank, have power 
over the lives and limbs of their wives, children, and 
domestics. But in crimes against the government, as, 
neglecting ro obey the emperor's edicts, defrauding him 
in his revenue, counterfeiting the coin, setting a house 
on fire, robberies, burglaries, debauching a married 
woman, or ravishing an unmarried one ; injustice, or 
maladministration in public officers, whether in go- 
vernors, judges, or magistrates, the punishment is not 
confined to the criminals, but inhumanly extended to his 
parents, brethren, children, and more distant relations, 
all of whom are put to death at the same hour though at 
ever so great a distance from each other. This is done 
by respiting the execution of those who are near, till the 
sentence can be conveyed by proper couriers to the other 
places ; and then, on the appointed time, all are brought 
forth, and executed at mid-day ; but the lives of the fe- 
male relations are generally saved, and they are sold to 
slavery, for a longer or shorter term of years, accord- 



342 History of all Nations. 

ing to the nearness of their relationship to the offender ; 
except in cases of high-treason, where the wives and 
daughters are put to death. For thefts and robberies, 
the unhappy criminals are crucified with the head down- 
ward, and consigned to a longer or shorter torture, ac- 
cording to the degree of their criminality : so that in 
cases of aggravated guilt, they are left to hang on the 
cross till they expire, which in some instances is not in 
a shorter time than three or four days : but if the theft 
admits of a milder death, they are dispatched by a dag- 
ger, or by strangling. In cases of high-treason, not 
only all the relations, but the whole ward in which they 
live, undergo they same dreadful fate ; the law suppos- 
ing them to be worthy of death for suffering such ene- 
mies to society to live among them. This cruel punish- 
ment of the innocent is an effectual means of causing the 
criminal, when known, to be immediately discovered, 
since the informer not only saves himself, but his whole 
family. 

These laws, contrary as they are to every sentiment 
of equity and humanity, are said to be still in force, and 
executed with the greatest rigour ; but criminals, as 
soon as they find they are discovered, frequently com- 
mit an act of suicide, to escape the tortures which await 
them. 

As a farther security to the new established govern- 
ment, and the safety of the empire, Taico enacted, that 
the empire should be rendered inaccessible for ever, and 
thoroughly purged from foreigners and foreign customs. 
No foreigners had so firm a footing in the empire as the 
Portuguese, who first discovered the country in the year 
1543 ; when, induced by the prospect of gain, they 
made large settlements in Japan. Their foreign com- 
modities, with the doctrine taught by the missionaries, 
by which it is said they gained over one- third of the 
people, and even several of the princes of the empire, 
and the marriages contracted between them and the new 
converts, so ingratiated them into the favour of the nation, 



Japan or Siphon, 343 

that, flushed with their success, they projected a revolu- 
tion in the government. 

In the year 1582, several princes of the empire sent 
some of their nearest relations, with letters and presents, 
for the express purpose of paying homage to Gregory 
XIII. who then filled the Papal chair. A circumstan- 
tial account of this embassy is given by Thuanus. Lib, 
LXXXI. Sect. 25. Ed. Lond. 1733. Tom. IF. 

Two letters, written by the Portuguese, one of which 
was intercepted by the Dutch, laid open their treache- 
rous designs. The Dutch, who were then at war with 
Portugal, seized this opportunity of discovering their 
treason, in hopes of gaining this profitable branch of trade 
to themselves. Other considerations concurred to excite 
in the Japanese an implacable hatred towards their Eu- 
ropean guests. Their priests could not, without the ut- 
most discontent and resentment, see their old religion, 
with all its powerful attractives of profit and popular es- 
teem, daily losing ground ; and strong representations 
were made at court by one of the chief counsellors of 
state, who being met on the road by a Jesuit bishop, the 
haughty prelate refused to pay him the same deference 
and respect which he was accustomed to receive from, 
the natives. The excessive profits the Portuguese re- 
ceived, and the immense treasures they sent out of the 
country, also alarmed the government, while the rapid 
progress made by the new religion, the union of the con- 
verts, and the hatred they bore to the gods and religion 
of the country, filled the emperor and his court with 
dreadful apprehensions. 

Taico, the emperor, therefore began to put a stop to 
the increase of the Portuguese interest, and the propa- 
gation of their religion ; he however made a slow pro- 
gress, and left the work to be finished by his success- 
ors, who placed him among the gods, by the name of 
the Second Fatzman, or Mars of the country. The 
Portuguese, with their clergy and Japanese kindred, 
were ordered to depart the country, under the penalty 
of suffering death by crucifixion ; all the other Japanese 



344 History of all J\aiions. 

were commanded to remain in the kingdom ; those who 
were actually abroad were to return within a certain li- 
mited time, after which they should, if taken, be liable 
to the same punishment, and those who had embraced 
the new religion were commanded to forsake it. These 
orders were the beginning of a most dreadful persecu- 
tion ; for the new converts being unmoved by the weak 
reasons that were urged against their faith, the sword, 
the halter, the cross, and the flames, were barbarously 
and vainly made use of to compel them to retract their 
opinions and change their conduct, instead of argument 
to convince their understandings, and to render them 
sensible of their error. Yet death, in all these various 
forms, was far from shaking their fortitude, for they 
bravely sealed their faith with their blood, and shewed 
such amazing examples of constancy, that their enemies 
were filled with surprise and admiration. According to 
the letters of the Jesuits, 20,570 persons suffered death 
for the faith of Christ in the year 1590 only. This cruel 
persecution, which exceeded every thing of the kind 
mentioned in history, lasted about forty years, when at 
last all the remains of Christianity in Japan were exter- 
minated in one day ; for upwards of 37,000 Chris- 
tians being reduced to despair at beholding the in- 
sufferable torments endured by their brethren, took up 
arms, and got possession of the castle of Simabra, seated 
upon the sea-coast, with a firm resolution of defending 
their lives to the utmost extremity ; but, after a siege 
of three months, the castle was taken, on the 12th of 
April, 1638, and all who remained alive were cruelly 
butchered. 

Thus was Christianity suppressed in the Japanese em- 
pire by the extermination of the Christians ; and that coun- 
try rendered impassible to the natives, and inaccessible to 
foreigners. The Portuguese at Macoa a fterwards sent 
thither a splendid embassy ; but although the law of na- 
tions, and the practice of every civilized community, in 
conformity to that law, render the persons of ambassa- 
dors inviolate, yet, in this instance, the ambassadors, and 



Japan, or Siphon. 343 

ttteir whole retinue, to the number of 6 1 persons, were be- 
headed, by the special command of the emperor, except 
a few of their meanest servants, whom they saved, that 
they might carry to their countrymen the tidings of this 
butchery. 

The Dutch, allured by the advantageous trade of the, 
Portuguese, first landed in Japan about the year 1600, 
where they met with all possible opposition, and every 
ill office, from the European rival in commerce. Por- 
tugal was then subject to the king of Spain, with whom 
the Dutch were at war; and this war was rekindled be- 
fore the Dutch discovered the designs of the Portuguese 
against the government of Japan, and then they assisted 
the Japanese, as hath been already mentioned, in driving 
out their insidious rivals, and afterwards in exterminat- 
ing the Romish religion out of that empire. After these 
events, which, however unchristian, shewed them to 
be the friends, or at least the tools of the Japanese, they 
enjoyed considerable privileges ; till, having built a fac- 
tory and warehouse of hewn stone, stronger, more lofty, 
and more extensive than the buildings of that country, 
while they were unlading one of their ships into their ca- 
pacious warehouse, it is said, the bottom of a large box 
started, and, instead of merchandize, a brass mortar fell 
out. The Japanese government, ever watchful for the 
safety of the state, were alarmed, and the Dutch received 
immediate orders, under pain of death, to demolish all 
their buildings, and remove from the port of Firando, 
where they were then established, to the little island De- 
sima ; which may properly enough be called the Dutch 
prison in Japan. 

About the year 1663, the English attempted to open a 
traffic with Japan ; but the Dutch, dreading such a rival- 
ship, took the most effectual method to alienate the minds 
of the Japanese from these new European merchants, 
by informing them, that the king of that country, 
Charles II. had married a daughter of the king of Portu- 
gal. Since that time the English have entirely given up 
all trade directly with Japan. 

2u 



346 tiistory of all Nations. 

In the third voyage of discovery by captain Cook, in 
which he unfortunately perished, and his successor, 
captain Clerk, died, captain Gore became the conductor 
of the expedition. On his return home, he came within 
six or seven miles of the eastern coast of Japan, but the 
weather being tempestuous, the coast known only by a 
Dutch chart, published by Jansen in his atlas, and 
Keempfer having described it as the most dangerous 
coast in the world ; the natives too being known to be 
abhorrent to strangers ; he therefore did not think it pru- 
dent to attempt to land ; the sails and cordage of the 
ships being also in a very decayed condition. Some 
Japanese vessels bore down towards the ships, one of 
which came within the distance of about half a mile. 
The narrative says, " It would have been easy to have 
spoken with this vessel, but as the manoeuvres of the 
Japanese testified that they were much alarmed, captain 
Gore was unwilling to augment their terror, and con- 
cluding that he should have better opportunities of com- 
munication with these people, suffered them to go off 
without interruption." Cook's Third Voyage, III. 401. 
No such opportunity however presented itself whilst the 
ships continued on the coast. 

Mons. Pages, who made the circuit of the globe in a 
very uncommon manner of travelling, relates, in the ac- 
count which he has published of that voyage (Vol. I. p. 
231, Lausanne Edition) that some time since (he travel- 
led in the year 1761) the Manillans sent deputies and 
presents to Japan, with proffers of friendship and propo- 
sals of forming a commercial intercourse, founded upon 
such principles as should be mutually beneficial. The 
Japanese received the deputies very kindly, accepted 
their presents, and made them others in return of much 
higher value, but absolutely rejected all connections, 
whether commercial or political, however beneficial or 
alluring the terms might be. 

At present the emperors of Japan are as despotic as 
any of the dairi ever were. It has been already observ- 
ed, that as the emperor has a great number of petty prin- 



Japan or Siphon. 347 

oes and nobles, who have absolute power in their several 
governments, the greatest care is taken to keep them in 
due submission. Of these twenty- one bear the title of 
kings, six are princes, four are dukes, seventeen are 
counts, and forty-one are lords, or something equivalent 
to these dignities, besides a great number of noblemen 
of inferior rank. The emperor's council consists of the 
former, who are obliged to attend in their turns, and 
have always four of the kingly dignity at their head. — 
The emperor's standing forces, including garrisons, &c. 
consist of 100,000 foot, and 20,000 horse ; but in time 
of war each of the governors of the provinces is oblig- 
ed to bring into the field a body of horse and foot com- 
pletely armed, proportionable to the extent of his pro- 
vince, or to the pension he receives from the emperor ; 
which,in the whole, amount to 368,000 foot, and 38,000 
horse. Their weapons are fire-arms, javelins, bows 
and arrows, sabres and daggers. The cavalry wear cui- 
rasses; and the foot helmets, finely wrought. 

From what has been before observed, the reader may 
form some idea of the numerous court of this monareh 
in his capital, since it must consist of one half of the 
princes and nobility of the empire, together with all 
their families, beside his own officers and guards, which 
generally amount to about 5 or 6000 men. He has 
many palaces magnificently built and furnished, in 
which the royal apartment, halls of audience, &c. are 
enriched with every thing curious and costly in art or 
nature. The ceilings are generally plated with gold, 
finely wrought, and embellished with precious stones; 
and the beds, screens, and cabinets, with the gardens, 
walks, ponds, fountains, terraces, groves, and sum- 
mer-houses, are answerable to the grandeur of the 
place. But of all the royal palaces that of Jedo is the 
largest and noblest : the rest, though grand and sump- 
tuous, are used as houses of pleasure, for his diversion 
in hunting, fishing, and other recreations. 

To this time the emperors allow the dairi to be 
treated with the same profound veneration that was 



348 History of all Nations. 

formerly paid him in ancient times : for though he has 
lost the greatest branch of his power, and is only head 
over all religious matters, while the emperor enjoys 
not only the imperial dignity, but the government both 
in civil and military affairs, yet he is allowed to pre- 
serve his pristine grandeur. He is not suffered to set 
his foot on the ground, and wherever he goes, is car- 
ried on men's shoulders. He is kept so retired, that 
the sun is not thought worthy to shine on his head, or 
the wind to blow upon him. He never wears the t «ame 
clothes above one day, or eats above once out of the 
same dishes, all the vessels and utensils of his table be- 
ing new every day : but these, though very clean and 
neat, are made only of common clay, and are gener- 
ally broken ; for they imagine, that if any layman should 
presume to eat his food out of those sacred dishes, it 
would swell and inflame his mouth and throat. He is 
addressed in pompous titles little short of blasphemy ; 
and all, except the emperor, when they speak to him in 
public, prostrate themselves fiat on the ground; beside, 
as every thing belonging to his person is esteemed sa- 
cred, he never shaves his beard, cuts his hair, or pares 
his nails. He is chiefly served by his twelve wives, 
whom he marries with great solemnity ; and, like the 
other monarchs of the east, keeps them as much as 
possible concealed. 

Upon the decease of the dairi, the ministry of that 
ecclesiastical court choose for his successor the next 
heir, without regard to age or sex ; hence it has often 
happened, that a prince under age, or a young un* 
married princess, has ascended the throne; and there 
are instances where the deceased dairi's relict has suc- 
ceeded her husband. 

All who belong to the dairi's court are clothed after a 
particular manner, and their habits are very different 
from those of secular princes, whom they scorn and 
despise, as descending from a mean and unholy extrac- 
tion. They wear long wide drawers, and a large gown 
With a sweeping train, which they. trail after them on the 



Japan or Siphon, 349 

ground. Their heads are covered with a black lacker- 
ed cap, by the shape of which, among other marks of 
distinction, their degree of rank is known, as well as 
what post they enjoy. Some have a large band of black 
silk or crape sewed to their caps, which either hangs 
down behind their shoulders, or is tied up. Others 
have a kind of flap, like a fan, standing out before their 
eyes. Some have a sort of scarf hanging down before 
from their shoulders, the length of which differs accord- 
ing to the quality of the wearer : for it is the custom of 
this court, that nobody bows lower than just to touch 
the floor with the end of his scarf. The dress of the 
women of this court is also different from that of secu- 
lar women ; particularly the dairi's twelve wives, who 
when full dressed, are so loaded with large wide gowns of 
silk, interwoven with flowers of gold and silver, that 
they are quite embarrassed in walking. 

An application to different kinds of learning form the 
chief amusement of the dairi's court ; and not only the 
courtiers, but many of the fair sex, have acquired great 
reputation by their poetical, historical, and other writ- 
ings. All the almanacks were formerly made there; 
but though this is not now the case, they must receive 
the approbation of the court. Here a taste for music 
prevails, and the women in particular play with great 
dexterity on all the musical instruments they are ac- 
quainted with ; the young noblemen also divert them- 
selves by riding, running races, dancing, and other 
exercises. The Japanese lay claim to the invention of 
gun-powder ; they greatly excel the Chinese in the use 
of fire-arms, and are good engineers. Their ingenuity 
and skill are likewise eminently displayed in their fire- 
works. 

When the dairi was sole master of the country, he ho- 
noured with his sacred presence whatever city he pleas- 
ed ; and it seldom happened that two succeeding em- 
perors chose the same place of residence. The dairi's 
court is now fixed at Miaco, where he has a large and 
spacious palace, which is distinguished by a lofty and 



550 History of all JSiations* 

magnificent tower. His imperial consort lives with him 
in the same palace, and the palaces of his other wives 
are situated next to his. At a small distance are the 
houses of the lords whose offices require a constant and 
more immediate attendance on his person ; there are also 
a number of other palaces and streets, divided among 
the officers belonging to the court according to their 
rank, all of which are separated from Miaco, and defend- 
ed against the sudden approach of an enemy, by walls, 
gates, ditches, and ramparts. The secular monarch 
constantly keeps a strong guard of soldiers at the dairi's 
court, in appearance out of tenderness and care for the 
preservation and safety of his sacred person and family ; 
but, doubtless, with a view to prevent all attempts for 
the recovery of the supreme authority. 

Every imperial city is committed to the care of two 
governors ; Nagasaki alone has three. These have the 
command of the city by turns, each generally for the 
space of two years. When that time is expired, the 
presiding governor delivers up his rower and apartment 
in the palace to his successor, and immediately sets out 
for Jedo, to make the usual presents, and give an ac- 
count of the most material transactions in his govern- 
ment. He continues at Jedo about six months, during 
which time he is permitted to live with his family : but 
as soon as he receives orders from the council of state to 
repair to his last government, or to any other, he must 
depart, leaving his wife and children at Jedo till his re- 
turn, in a manner as hostages for his fidelity ; nay, while 
he is in his government, he is to admit no woman within 
the space of his residence, on pain of incurring the 
imperial displeasure ; the fatal consequences of which 
are no less than imprisonment, banishment, or death, 
•with the entire ruin of his family ; it being esteemed 
beneath the majesty of the emperor to inflict slighter pun- 
ishments on the least disregard shewn to his commands. 
The salary of each governor is but small ; but his per- 
quisites are so considerable, that in a few years he might 
amass great estates, but for the presents which must be 



Japan or Siphon. 351 

made to the emperor and the grandees of his court ; and 
being obliged to keep up all that state and grandeur 
which is thought becoming the dignity of the employ- 
ment, and the majesty of the supreme head. 

Under the imperial governors are four magistrates, 
and their deputies. These magistrates hold their office 
a year; but they are obliged daily to communicate to 
the governor every thing that comes before them ; and 
in difficult cases, or where they cannot agree among 
themselves, to lay the cause before the emperor's bench 
or court of justice, or, with the consent of that court, 
to leave it to the determination of the governor in the 
last resort. All civil affairs are brought before this 
imperial court of judicature, which, having examined 
the parties and their witnesses, gives judgment accord- 
ing to the laws of the empire, and their imperial or- 
ders and proclamations. From this court there is no 
appeal ; but those who have received sentence of death 
cannot be executed without a warrant signed by the 
council of state at Jedo, which council must be also con- 
sulted in all affairs of great moment. 

The deputies of the magistrates are next to them in 
authority, but enjoy their posts for life. It is one branch 
of their office to compose differences of small conse- 
quence arising in that part of the town committed to 
their care. 

Next to these are four officers, who enjoy their post 
only one year, and are appointed by the magistrates to 
make a faithful report in their name to the governor, of 
the daily transactions in the execution of their office ; 
and being also a kind of representatives of the people, 
whose interest they are to promote at the governor's 
court, they have a small room assigned them in his pa- 
lace, where two of them constantly attend till the go- 
vernor is at leisure to receive the messages they are to 
deliver in the name of the magistrates, or the petitions 
they present to him in the name of private persons. 

The police and regulations observed in every street, 
in order to keep a watchful eye over the conduct of 



352 History of all hattons. 

the inhabitants, and to relieve the governors, magis- 
trates, and other chief officers, in the discharge of their 
duty, are very strict. For these purposes the follow- 
ing officers are appointed for every street : the principal 
is the ottona, who gives the necessary orders in case of 
lire, sees that a regular watch be kept at night, and that 
the orders of the governors and magistrates be punc- 
tually executed. He keeps books, in which he regis- 
ters marriages, the births of children, deaths, persons 
who travel, or remove out of the street; and the names, 
births, and trades, of such new inhabitants as settle in 
it. When slight differences arise between the inhabi- 
tants of his street, he summons the parties before him 
and, in conjunction with the deputies of the magistrates, 
endeavours, if possible, to reconcile them. He pun- 
ishes small crimes by seizing the criminals, and put- 
ting them in irons. He causes criminals to be taken up 
by his own people within his district, and confines 
them till he receives farther orders from the superior ma- 
gistrates, before whom he lays all criminal affairs and 
cases of moment; and is himself answerable for what 
accidents happen within the street under his inspection. 
He is chosen by the inhabitants of that street from 
among themselves, each of them writing upon a piece 
of paper the name of the person who is the object of 
his choice, adding his own name and seal. The votes 
are all taken in, the papers opened, and the names of 
the two who have most votes are laid before the go- 
vernor, with the petition of the inhabitants, that he 
would be pleased to nominate one of them as ottona. 

Every ottona has three deputies, who give him 
their advice and assistance in the execution of his 
office. 

The inhabitants of every street are divided into com- 
panies, from each of which five men are selected : there 
are ten or fifteen companies in every street : but though 
these are termed companies of five, a few more of the 
neighbours are frequently added, so that they consist of 
ten' or fifteen heads of families, all of whom must be the 



Japan or Siphon* 355 

proprietors of the ground and houses in which they live ; 
for those who have no houses of their own, notwithstand- 
ing their being inhabitants of the street, are not admitted 
into those corporations, but considered as tenants de- 
pendent on the landlords, and are therefore exempted 
from taxes and other burdens, except the night-watch 
and round, in which they are obliged to serve them- 
selves, or procure a substitute, it being a duty which all 
the inhabitants are required to observe in rotation. 
These tenants have no vote in the election of the officers 
of the street, nor any share in the public money. Each 
of these little companies has one of its own body at its 
head, who is answerable for its actions ; and if they be 
contrary to law, he shares with the rest of the members 
the penalty they are sentenced to undergo by the su- 
preme magistrate. 

There is likewise a secretary, or public notary, in 
every street, who writes and publishes the commands of 
the ottona to the inhabitants of the street, and gives pass- 
ports, testimonials, and letters of dismission. The 
next officer is the treasurer of the street, who keeps the 
public money, and from time to time accounts for it to 
the rest of the inhabitants, specifying the sums he has 
received and paid. The inhabitants serve this office 
each a year in turn. There is another officer, named 
" the messenger of the street," who is to give informa- 
tion of every death, or any occurrence that is thought 
worth noticing. He also delivers to the chief officers 
the petitions of the inhabitants of the street, collects the 
contribution money for the present which at certain 
times is made to the governors and chief magistrates, 
delivers the commands of the magistrates to the heads of 
the companies, and publishes them in the street. 

If an inhabitant designs to remove from the house and 
street in which he lives, to another, he must first apply 
to the ottona of the other street, and making him a pre- 
sent of a dish of fish, give him a petition, expressing 
his desire to be admitted among the inhabitants of that 
street. The ottona, upon this, makes inquiry into 

2 w 



354 History of all Nations. 

his life, character, and conduct, and then sends his mes- 
senger of the street to every one of the inhabitants, de- 
siring to know if they will consent to admit the petitioner 
as a neighbour ; and if any one of the inhabitants opposes 
his admission, urging that he is a drunkard, quarrelsome, 
or addicted to any other irregularity, and that he will 
not be answerable for the consequences, it is sufficient 
to exclude him. But if he obtains all their consents, the 
petitioner must apply to the public notary ol his former 
street for a certificate of his behaviour, and obtain a let- 
ter of admission, both signed by the ottona, and these 
must be carried by the street -messenger to the ottona 
of the street to which the petitioner intends to remove ; 
upon which he receives him under his protection, and 
incorporates him among the inhabitants of his street. 
Meanwhile he is not answerable for the petitioner's be- 
haviour before his delivery of those instruments ; and 
should he be found guilty of any crime committed be» 
fore that time, it would be laid to the charge of the street 
in which he formerly lived. After his being admit- 
ted among the inhabitants of the new street, and his 
name entered in the register-book, he solemnises his en- 
try with a handsome dinner, which he gives either to the 
company of five, or, if he pleases, to the whole street. 
His greatest trouble, however, still remains, and that 
is selling his old house ; for this cannot be done without 
the consent of all the inhabitants of the street, who often 
oppose it for upwards of a year, the buyer, for whose 
crimes they are for the future to suffer, not being suffi- 
ciently known, or not agreeable to them. Supposing 
all obstacles at length removed, the buyer is to pay an 
eighth part of the price into the public treasury of the 
street, five parts of which are to be equally distributed 
among the inhabitants, for the pains they have taken on 
account of the purchaser's admission, and the three re- 
maining parts are allotted for a public dinner. This, 
however, is seldom given : but the new inhabitant has 
no sooner taken possession of his house, than all his 



Japan or Siphon. 355 

neighbours come to wish him joy, and to offer him their 
services. 

When an inhabitant of a street is accused of any mis- 
demeanor, his case is laid before the street council, that 
is, the ottona, his three deputies, and the heads of the 
small companies ; when, if the affair be too intricate for 
them to determine, they lay it before the council of the 
town ; if they meet with the same difficulties, the Nen- 
giosi, or four annual officers under the magistrates, are 
desired to confer upon the affair, assisted by some of the 
stewards of the governor's household, and if they find 
it necessary, to communicate it to the governor him- 
self. 

If quarrels or disputes arise in the street, either be- 
tween the inhabitants or strangers, the next neighbours 
are obliged to part them ; for if one should happen to be 
killed, though it were the aggressor, the other must in- 
evitably suffer death, notwithstanding his alledging it was 
done in his own defence ; and he knows no other method 
of preventing the shame of a public execution, than by 
ripping up his own belly. Nor is his death thought 
sufficient satisfaction to their laws : three of those fami- 
lies who live next to the place where the accident hap- 
pened, are shut up in their houses for three, four, or 
more months, and rough boards nailed across their doors 
and windows, after they have prepared for ibis imprison- 
ment by providing necessary provisions ; and the rest 
of the inhabitants of the same street are sentenced to 
pass some days or months in hard labour upon the pub- 
lic worksi These penalties are inflicted in proportion 
to their guilt, in not endeavouring to the utmost of their 
power to prevent the fatal consequences of such a quar- 
rel. A like punishment, but greater in degree, is in- 
flicted on the heads of the companies of five in that 
street where the crime was committed; and it is an 
high aggravation of their guilt and punishment, if they 
knew before-hand that the persons were of a quarrel- 
some disposition, or, in other cases, were inclined to 
the crime for which they suffer. The landlords, and 



356 History of all Nations. 

also the masters of the criminal, partake of the pun- 
ishment inflicted for the misdemeanors of their lodgers 
and servants. Whoever draws his sword, though he 
does not hurt or even touch his enemy, must, if the 
fact be proved, suffer death. If an inhabitant flies from 
justice, the head of the company of five to which he 
belongs must pursue him, or hire people to follow him 
till he be found, and delivered up to the civil magis- 
trate, under pain of corporal punishment. 

Religion of the Japanese.] Their religion is 
in general the grossest heathenism and idolatry ; but 
religious liberty, so far as it has no interference with 
the interest of the secular government, or does not af- 
fect the peace and tranquility of the empire, has always 
been allowed in Japan: hence foreign religions have 
been easily introduced, and propagated with success; 
there are therefore many religions in Japan, the princi- 
pal of which are the three following. 

I. The Sinto, or ancient idol- worship of the Ja- 
panese. 

II. The Bubso, or foreign idol-worship, introduced 
into Japan from the empire of China and the king- 
dom of Siam ; and, 

III. The religion of their philosophers and moral- 
ists. 

I. The religion of the Sintos deserves to be first 
spoken of, more on account of its antiquity, than for the 
number of its professoi s. These have some obscure 
and imperfect notions of the immortality of the soul, 
and a future state of bliss or misery, and yet worship 
only those gods whom they believe are peculiarly con- 
cerned in the government of the world; for though they 
acknowledge a Supreme Being, who they believe 
dwells in the highest heaven, and admit of some infe- 
rior gods, whom they place among the stars; yet they 
do not worship and adore them, nor have they any fes- 
tival-days sacred to them, thinking that beings so much 
above mankind will concern themselves but little about 
human affairs. They, however, swear by these su- 



Japan or Siphon. 357 

pcrior gods ; but they worship and invoke those gods 
alone whom they believe to have the sovereign control 
over this world, its elements, productions, and ani- 
mals; these they suppose will not only render them 
happy here, but, by interceding for them at the hour 
of death, may procure them a happy condition in the 
next state of existence, in reward of their proper con- 
duct here. Hence their dairis, or ecclesiastical empe- 
rors, being esteemed lineally descended from the eldest 
and most favoured sons of these deities, the supposed 
heirs of their excellent qualities, are considered as the 
true and living images of their gods, and possessed of 
such an eminent degree of holiness, that none of the 
people dare presume to appear in their presence. In 
short, the whole system of the Sinto's divinity is a 
lame and ridiculous jumble of absurdities, and most 
probably would not have subsisted so long, had it 
not been so closely connected with those civil customs, 
in the observance of which this nation is scrupulously 
exact. 

The temples of the Sintoists are exceedingly mean ; 
within them is hung up white paper, cut into small 
pieces, as emblems of the purity of the place; and 
sometimes there is a large mirror in the middle, that 
the worshippers, when they behold themselves, may 
consider, that as distinctly as all their bodily defects 
appear in the mirror, so conspicuously do the secret 
stains of their hearts appear before the eyes of the im- 
mortal gods. These temples are frequently without 
any visible idols of the gods to whom they are conse- 
crated, they being locked up in a case at the upper end, 
and to this case the people bow. These temples are not 
attended by priests, but by seculars, who are, with very 
few exceptions, utterly ignorant of the principles of the 
religion they profess, and unacquainted with the his- 
tory of the gods they worship. These, when they go 
abroad, are dressed, for distinction sake, in large 
gowns, commonly white, but sometimes yellow, and 
of other colours ; occasionally under these they wear 



358 History of all Nations. 

their common secular dress. They shave their beards; 
but let their hair grow, and wear a stiff, oblong, lack- 
ered cap, resembling in shape a ship, tied under their 
chins with twisted silk strings, terminated with tas- 
sels, which hang lower or higher according to the 
office or quality of the person who wears them, who is 
not obliged to bow lower to persons of superior rank 
than to make these tassels touch the floor. Their su- 
periors have their hair twisted under black gauze or 
crape, in a very particular manner; and have their ears 
covered by a kind of flap, which stands out or hangs, 
according to the dignities or honourable titles conferred 
upon them by the dairi. They are under his direc- 
tion in spiritual affairs; but in temporals they, and all 
the other ecclesiastical persons in the empire, are un- 
der the command of two imperial judges, appointed 
by the secular emperor. Their haughtiness and pride 
exceed description; when they appear in a secular 
dress, they, like the nobles, wear two sabres, and think 
it becomes their station to shun all communication and 
intimacy with the common people. 

The Sintoists do not adhere to the doctrine of the 
transmigration of souls ; yet abstain from killing and eat- 
ing those beasts that are of service to mankind, because 
they imagine that slaying them would be an act of cruelty 
and ingratitude. They believe that the soul, after quit- 
ting the bod}, is removed to the high sub-celestial fields, 
seated just beneath the thirty-three heavens, the dwelling 
places of their gods ; that those who have led a good 
life find an immediate admission, while the souls of the 
wicked and impious are denied entrance, and con- 
demned to wander till they have expiated their crimes ; 
but they do not believe in a hell or place of torment. 
One of the essential points of their religion, is, that they 
ought to preserve an inward purity of heart, and to prac- 
tice or abstain from whatever the dictates of reason, or 
the express command of the civil magistrate, direct or 
forbid. They have no formulary, either by divine or 
ecclesiastical authority, for regulating their social con- 



Japan or Siphon. 359 

duct. Hence it might be imagined, that they would in- 
dulge, without scruple, the gratification of their wishes 
and desires, unrestrained by the dread of acting contrary 
to the will of the gods, and feeling no apprehension of 
incurring their displeasure ; but they have an active 
principle in their own breasts, which preserves them in 
the habitual exercise of virtuous and good actions, and 
restrains them from the practice of vice. 

Another essential point of the Sinto's religion, is a 
rigorous abstinence from whatever renders a man im- 
pure. This consists in abstaining from blood, from 
eating flesh, or being near a dead body ; by which a 
person is for a time rendered unfit to go to the temples, 
to visit holy places, and to appear in the presence of the 
gods. Whoever is stained with his own or another's 
blood, is for seven days unfit to approach the holy places ; 
and if, in building a temple, one of the workmen hap- 
pens to receive a hurt, by which blood is drawn, he is 
from thenceforward, incapacitated from w r orking on that 
sacred building ; but if the same accident should happen 
in building or repairing any of the Sinto's temples at 
Isje, the temple itself must be pulled down and rebuilt. 
Whoever eats the flesh of any four-footed beast, deer 
only excepted, is unclean for thirty days : yet who- 
ever eats of a wild or tame fowl, water-fowl, crane, 
or pheasant, is unclean only a Japanese hour, which 
is equal to two of ours. Whoever kills a beast, or 
is present at an execution, attends a dying person, or 
enters a house where a dead body lies, is unclean for 
that day ; and the nearer a person is related to the de- 
ceased, so much the greater is the impurity. By the 
neglect of these precepts, people are rendered guilty 
of external defilement, which they say is detested by 
the gods, and renders men unfit to approach their tem- 
ples. 

The Budso, or foreign pagan- worship introduced 
into Japan, probably owes its origin to Budha, whom 
the Brahmins of India believe to be Wisthnu, their 
deity, who, they say, made his ninth appearance in the 



#60 History of all J\atiort$. 

world under the form of a man of that name. Th£ 
Chinese and Japanese call him Buds and Siaka, which 
names indeed at length became a common epithet for 
all gods and idols in general brought from foreign coun- 
tries, and sometimes they were given to the pretended 
saints who preached these new doctrines. 

The most essential points of this religion, are, that 
the souls of men and animals are immortal, and both 
of the same substance, differing only according to the 
bodies in which they are placed ; and that after the 
souls of mankind have left their bodies, they shall be 
rewarded or punished according to their behaviour in 
this life, by being introduced to a state of happiness or 
misery. This state of happiness they call a place of 
eternal pleasures; and say, that as the gods differ in their 
nature, and the souls of men in virtue, so also do the 
degrees of pleasure in the state of bliss, in order that 
every one may be rewarded according to his deserts : 
yet they consider the whole place as so entirely filled 
with felicity, that each happy inhabitant thinks his por- 
tion best, and is so far from envying the superior hap- 
piness of others, that all his wishes are confined to hav- 
ing his own happiness rendered perpetual. Their god 
Amida is the sovereign commander of these blissful 
regions, and is considered as the patron and protector 
of human souls, but more particularly as the god and 
father of those who are happily removed to a state of 
felicity. These maintain, that leading a virtuous life, 
and doing nothing contrary to the five commandments, 
is the only way to become agreeable to Amida, and 
to render themselves worthy of eternal happiness. 

On the other hand, all persons, whether priests or 
laymen, who, by their sinful lives and vicious actions, 
have rendered themselves unworthy of the pleasures pre- 
pared for the virtuous, are, after death, sent to a place 
of misery, there to be confined and tormented during a 
certain indefinite time, where every one is to be punished 
according to the nature and number of his crimes, the 
number of years he lived upon earth, his station there, 



Japan or Siphon* 361 

and his opportunities for becoming good and virtuous. 
To Jemma, who is the severe judge of this place of mis- 
ery, the vicious actions of mankind appear with all their 
aggravating circumstances, by means of a large mirror, 
called " the mirror of knowledge," which is placed be- 
fore him. Yet the miseries of the unhappy souls confi- 
ned to these gloomy prisons, they imagine, may be 
greatly alleviated by the good actions and virtuous lives 
of their family, their friends and relations, whom they 
left behind ; but nothing, they are taught, is so condu- 
cive to this desirable end, as the prayers and offerings 
of the priests to the great and good Amida, who can 
prevail on the almost inexorable judge to treat the im- 
prisoned souls with somewhat less severity than their 
crimes deserve, and to send them speedily again into the 
world. For when they have been confined in these in- 
fernal prisons a time sufficient to expiate their crimes, 
they are sentenced by Jemma to return to this earth, and 
animate those creatures whose nature is most nearly al- 
lied to their former sinful inclinations ; as, for instance, 
toads, serpents, insects, four-footed beasts, birds, and 
fishes. From the vilest of these, transmigrating into 
others and nobler, they at last are suffered again to enter 
human bodies, and thus have it in their power, either by 
their virtue and piety to obtain an uninterrupted state of 
felicity, or, by a new course of vices, once more to ex- 
pose themselves to all the miseries of confinement in a 
place of torment, succeeded by a new unhappy transmi- 
gration. 

The five commandments of the law of Buds, or Sia- 
ka, which are the standing rule of the life and behav- 
iour of all his faithful followers, are, . I. Not to kill 
anything that has life. 2. Not, to steal. 3. Not to 
commit fornication. 4. To avoid lies, and all false- 
hood: and, 5. Not to drink strong liquors: which last 
Siaka very strongly enjoins upon his disciples. 

Beside these chief and general commandments, there 
are ten counsels or admonitions, which are only these 
five laws amplified, and applied to more particular ac- 

2 x 



362 History of all Nations. 

tions, all tending to a stricter observance of virtue. A 
still father subdivision hath been made of these laws into 
five hundred counsels and admonitions, in which are 
specified, with the utmost exactness, whatever, accord- 
ing to their notions, has the least tendency to virtue or 
vice. But the number of these admonitions being so 
very great, it is not surprising that those who are dis- 
tinguished for observing them are very few ; the rather, 
as they tend to such a thorough mortification of their 
bodies, as to measure and prescribe the minutest part of 
their diet, and scarcely to allow them the food necessary 
to support life. 

Of the followers of Siaka there are several sects, all 
of w T hich have their temples, their convents, and their 
priests : and of all their religious buildings in the coun- 
try, these temples, with their adjoining convents, are 
the most remarkable, as being far superior to all others, 
from their stately height, curious roofs, and numberless 
ornaments, which agreeably surprise the beholder; 
such as are built within cities or villages generally stand 
on arising ground, and in the most conspicuous places. 
They are all most agreeably situated : a fine view of 
the adjacent country, with the neighbourhood of a 
wood, a clear rivulet, and pleasant walks, being essen- 
tial requisites in the site of these temples : for with such 
situations, they say, the gods are delighted; and the 
priests readily adopt the same opinion. Beauiful stair- 
cases of stone lead up to these structures, and several 
small temples, or chapels, are built within the court; 
these are adorned with gilt images, lackered columns, 
gates, and pillars, all very neat, but rather pretty than 
magnificent. Both the principal temple, and those 
smaller ones that are dependent on it, are built of the 
best cedars and firs ; and in the midst of the large tem- 
ple stands a fine altar, with one or more gilt idols upon 
it, and a beautiful candlestick with sweet scented can- 
dies burning before it. These temples are frequently- 
supported by a great number of pillars, and are so neatly 
adorned, that a man might fancy himself transported 



Japan or Siphon, 363 

into a Romish church, did not the monstrous shape of 
the idols convince him of the contrary. One of these 
temples, erected at Miaco, is esteemed the most sump- 
tuous in the empire. It is built with free- stone; the 
roof is bold and lofty. It stands on the top cf a hill, 
and on each side of the ascent are lofty pillars of free- 
stone, ten paces distant from each other; and on the 
top of each a large lantern, which makes a fine appear- 
ance at night, being then lighted up. The temple 
itself is supported by a number of pillars, and contains 
many idols, among which is one of gilt copper, of a 
prodigious size, seated in a chair eighty feet broad, and 
seventy feet in height. No less than fifteen men may 
stand on the head of this colossus, whose thumb is 
fourteen inches in circumference, and the body and 
limbs of this monstrous figure in proportion. Indeed 
the whole country abounds with idols, which are to be 
found not only in temples, but in public and private 
buildings, in streets, markets, and along the highways. 
People are, however, not required to prostrate them- 
selves before them, or to pay them any other than vo- 
luntary respect. 

III. The religion of the philosophers and moralists is 
very different from that of the two former ; for they pay 
no regard to any of the forms of worship practised in 
the country. The supreme good, say they, consists in 
that pleasure and delight that arises from the steady prac- 
tice of virtue ; they maintain that men are obliged to be 
virtuous, because nature has endowed them with rea- 
son, that by living according to its dictates they might 
shew their superiority to the irrational inhabitants of the 
earth. They do not admit of transmigration of souls, 
but believe that there is an universal soul diffused 
through all nature, which animates all things, and which 
re-assumes departed souls, as the sea does the rivers. — 
This universal spirit they confound with the Supreme 
Being. These philosophers not only admit of self-mur- 
der, but consider it as an heroic and commendable ac- 
tion, when it is the only honourable means of avoiding a 



354 History of all Nations, 

shameful death, or of escaping from the hands of a vic- 
torious enemy . 

They conform to the general custom of the country 
in commemorating their deceased parents and relations, 
by placing all sorts of provisions, both raw and dressed, 
on a table provided for that purpose ; and by monthly or 
anniversary dinners, to which are invited the family and 
friends of the deceased, who ail appear in their best gar- 
ments, having previously washed and purified them- 
selves, for three days, during which they abstain from 
lying with their wives, and from every thing held to be 
impure. 

They celebrate no other festivals, nor pay any respect 
to the gods of the country. Being formerly suspected 
of favouring the Christian religion, they are obliged to 
have each an idol, or at least the name of one, put up 
in a conspicuous and honourable place in their houses, 
with a flower- pot and censer before them ; but in their 
public schools is hung up the picture of Confucius. 
This sect was formerly very numerous. Arts and sci- 
ences were cultivated among them, and the most enlight- 
ened part of the nation was of that profession ; but the 
dreadful persecution of the Christians greatly weakened 
it, and it has been declining ever since : the extreme ri- 
gour of the imperial edicts makes people in general cau- 
tious of reading their books, which were foi merly the 
delight and admiration of the nation, and held in as great 
esteem as the writings of Socrates and Plato are in Eu- 
rope, — Payne, 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 
VENICE. 

The same cause which overthrew the Roman empire, 
gave existence to Venice. About the middle of the fifth 
century, the Venetii, a people inhabiting a small district 



Venice. 365 

of Italy, a few Paduans, and some peasants on the banks 
of thePo, to escape from the fury of Attila, repaired to 
the marshes a;id small islands which lay on the western 
coast, at the bottom of the Adriatic gulf. All the inha- 
bitants they found here were some fishermen, who had 
erected a few huts on one of those islands, which had 
received the name of Rialto. Soon after, the city of Pa- 
dua sent a coiony thither, ad appointed some of their 
citizens to act as magistrates, who held their dignity for 
a year, and were succeeded by others. On the taking of 
Aquiieia by the Huns under Attila, a vast resort of 
wretched fugitives increased the population of the place, 
and in the \ ear 452 the city of Venice was founded. The 
Paduans, considering that little settlement as having been 
established by their patronage, claimed a right of so- 
vereignty, which was soon disputed by the new state* 
and shortly after renounced on the part of the claimants, 
through inability to enforce their pretensions. The Ve- 
netians then became an inde; endent republic, and, such 
is the vicissitude of states, became in a few years masters 
of the territories of Padua. Even the commotions which 
agitated, in a greater or less degree, most parts of the 
continent of Europe, during the three centuries which 
succeeded its establishment, so far from involving Ve- 
nice in wars, or endangering its security, signally pro- 
moted its wealth and its power. The genius of the peo- 
ple, stimulated by unparalleled advantages of situation, 
prompted them to commercial pursuits, and they soon 
became the greatest maritime state on the globe. 

Its original form of government was purely democra- 
tical : magistrates were chosen by a general assembly 
of the people, who gave them the name of Tribunes : 
one of whom was appointed to preside on each island, 
but to hold his office only for a year ; then another gene- 
ral election was made ; and each tribune was account- 
able for his conduct while in office, to the general assem- 
bly of the people. This form of government subsisted 
for about one hundred and fifty years ; it then appeared 
expedient to make choice of a chief magistrate, and on 



366 History of all A ations. 

him the title of Duke was conferred, which has since 
been corrupted to Doge : this dignity was elective, 
and held for life : he was even entrusted with the power 
of nominating to all offices, and of making peace and 
declaring war. Paul Luke Anafesto was the first duke, 
who was elected in the year 697. Such was the confi- 
dence which the people reposed in their duke, that he 
was at liberty to use his own discretion how far he would 
avail himself of the advice of the citizens. In the coun- 
cils which he called on any matters of importance, he 
sent messages to those citizens for whose judgment he 
had the greatest esteem, praying that they would come 
and assist him with their advice. This form was retained 
by succeeding doges, and the citizens so sent for were 
called Pregadi (from the Italian word pregare, to pray.) 
The third doge, whose talents for war had proved suc- 
cessful in extending the power of the republic, at length 
meditated to assume a more absolute sway, and to ren- 
der the supreme authority hereditary in his family ; but 
su h conduct excited a general alarm in the people : he 
was assaulted in his palace, and there put to death. This 
event caused the government of Venice to be new mo- 
delled, and a chief magistrate, who was now called 
" Master of the Militia," was elected annually; but 
his power whilst in office was the same as before. — 
Such form of government continued only five years, 
when the title of doge was revived, A. D. 730, in the 
person of the son of him who had been assassinated. 

About the latter end of the twelfth century, when 
every other part of the Christian world was seized with 
a frantic rage for recovering the holy land, the Venetians 
were so far from contributing any forces for the cru- 
sades, that they did not scruple to supply the Saracens 
with arms ? ammunition, and every other necessary. As 
the power of the state augmented by the acquisition of 
Istria, and many parts of Dalmatia, the jealousy of the 
people towards their doge became stronger. At that 
time the only tribunal at Venice consisted of forty judg- 
es ; these were called " The Council^of Forty ;" but in 



Venice, 367 

the year 1173, another doge, named Michieli, being as- 
sassinated in a popular insurrection, the council of forty- 
found means to new model the government, by gaining 
the consent of the people to delegate the right of voting 
for magistrates, which each citizen possessed, to four 
hundred and seventy persons, called Counsellors, \\ ho 
received the appellation of " the grand council ;" and act- 
ing as delegates of the people, became what the general 
assembly of the people until that time had been. By 
this artful innovation (which the people were cajoled in- 
to an acquiescence with, by retaining the right of electing 
these counsellors annually) the democracy became pre- 
sently subverted ; and an aristocracy, in its fullest and 
most rigid form, was introduced, by restricting the 
power of the doge, and instituting a -variety of officers 
(all of whom were, in a short time, chosen from among 
the nobilitv) which effectually controlled both the prince 
and the people. 

Ziuni was the first doge elected after the government 
had received, what the event proves to have been, its 
permanent modification ; and during his administration 
the singular ceremony of espousing the sea, which has 
been annually observed ever since, was first adopted, and 
took its rise from the assistance which the Venetians 
gave to Pope Alexander III. when hard pressed by the 
emperor Frederic Barbarossa, and the signal victory 
'they obtained over a formidable fleet under the command 
of Otho, son of Frederic, in which the admiral and 
thirty of his ships were taken. Alexander, with the 
whole city of Venice, went out to meet Ziani, the con- 
queror, on his return ; to whom his holiness presented 
a ring, saying, " Use this ring as a chain to retain the 
sea, henceforth, in subjection to the Venetian state; 
espouse her with this ring, and let the marriage be 
solemnized annually, by you and your successors, to 
the end of time, that the latest posterity may know that 
Venice has acquired the empire of the waves, and holds 
the sea in subjection, in the same manner as a wife is 
held by her husband." 



368 History of all .\ations. 

The Venetians having extended their territories into 
Lombardy, Istria, and Dalmatia, became masters of 
many of the islands in the Archipelago, particularly ihe 
large and important one of Candia ; they were masters 
of the Morea; and, in the beginning of the thirteenth 
century, Dandolo, their doge, when more than eighty 
years of age, in conjunction with the French, took 
Constantinople from the Turks. About which time they 
engrossed the lucrative trade in the manufactures and 
prcductions of the East Indies, which they procured at 
the, port of Alexandria, and conveyed to every market 
of Europe. 

Under Marino Morosini was introduced the present 
form of electing the doge, and at this jun ture jealousy 
and envy occasioned the war with Genoa, v\ hich, after 
continuing a hundred and thirty years, was at last con- 
cluded by a treaty in 1381. During this war, doge 
Peter Gradonigo procured a law to be passed in 1296, 
that none but the nobility should be capable of having a 
seat in the grand council ; and thus the government be- 
came altogether aristocratical. 

Thus has the republic of Venice continued upwards 
of thirteen hundred years, amidst many foreign wars 
and intestine commotions ; its grandeur was chiefly ow- 
ing to its trade, and, since the decline of that, its strength 
and power have suffered a considerable diminution. No 
republic in the history of the world has subsisted for so 
long a space of time ; and, as its independence was not 
founded on usurpation, nor cemented with blood, so its 
descent from that splendor and power which it had once 
attained, to its present contracted state, instead of de- 
grading, reflects the highest honour on the government 
as well as the people. None of the causes which sub- 
verted the famous republics of antiquity effected the decline 
of this state. No tyrants enslaved, no demagogues 
deluded, no luxuries enervated them. They owed their 
greatness to their industry, bravery, and maritime skill ; 
and their decline, to the revolutions which successful 
pursuits of science had produced in the nations of Eu- 



Venice. 369 

rope. For many years they withstood the whole force 
of the Ottoman empire by sea and by land ; and, al- 
though their treasures have been exhausted, and their 
power weakened, their enemies have experienced conse- 
quences scarcely less fatal. 

No government has been more attacked by deep-laid 
and formidable conspiracies than that of Venice ; many 
of which have been brought to the very eve of execu- 
tion without discovery or suspicion. But though the 
entire subversion of the state has been, at times, impend- 
ing from some of these plots, yet they have been con- 
stantly rendered abortive, either by the vigilance or good 
fortune of the senate. One of the most remarkable of 
these conspiracies was formed by a doge named Marino 
Falliero, in the year 1355, who at that time was eighty 
years of age ; but, conceiving a violent resentment 
against the senate, he formed a plan in order to assassi- 
nate the whole body. The design was timely discover- 
ed, and the dignified hoary traitor was brought to trial, 
found guilty upon his own confession, and publicly be- 
headed. In the great chamber of the palace, where the 
portraits of the doges are placed, there is a vacant space 
between the predecessor and successor of this man, 
where appears this inscription, " Locus Marini Fallieri 
decapitari." "The place intended for the portrait of Ma* 
rinus Fallierus, who was beheaded," The year 1617 
is also distinguished by a no less remarkable conspira- 
cy, the contriver and principal agent in which was the 
marquis Bedamar, the Spanish ambassador residing 
there. The elegant pen of abbe St. Real has transmit- 
ted to posterity this very curious instance of superior 
talent? and consummate artifice, which were, for a long 
course of time, exercised in effecting the most atrocious 
deed, being no less than the total destruction of the re- 
public. Otway has formed a very pathetic tragedy up- 
on this story, in which the character of Belvidera, and 
the love scenes between her and Jafner, are the only fic- 
tions of the poet : and Priuli was really the doge, whom 
the poet ranks as a senator. 

2 v 



&fO History of all Nations*. 

Constitution. — In this republic the power is lodg- 
ed in the hands of the nobility, who, 'according to Mr. 
Sharp, amount to above fifteen hundred, including those 
whose public employments in the provinces oblige them 
to reside out of Venice. On the birth of the son of a 
nobleman his name is entered in the golden book, other- 
wise he forfeits his nobility. Every noble is a member 
of the senate, on which account it is a received mexim, 
that they are all of equal dignity ; yet there is a consider- 
able difference between the interest and authority of 
Families. To the first class belong the ancient houses 
whose ancestors chose the first duke, and thence are call- 
ed " le case eletterali : " these consist of twelve fami- 
lies, and on them preferable to others are conferred the 
higher offices. There are four other families who pre- 
tend to an equality with these, they being very little in- 
ferior to them in point of antiquity. Next follow eight 
houses nearly of the same antiquity. Duke Gradeni- 
go having passed a law that the council should for ever 
consist of the families of which it was then composed, 
and some others which he emobled ; this produced a se- 
cond class of nobility, which consists of upwards Of 
eighty families, and with these are also included the de- 
scendants of those who were raised to nobility after the 
war with the Genoese, on account of their large contri- 
butions towards carrying it on with vigour. The third 
and last class is composed of the citizens, whose nobility- 
has been purchased for an hundred thousand Venetian 
ducats ; a resource which the republic has made use of 
in necessitous times for raising money. German and 
other princes, and even crowned heads, have thought 
it no degradation to be made nobles of Venice. 

The nobility, such as counts and marquisses, in the 
territories of the republic, though some of them are of 
very ancient families, are now under great restrictions, 
to prevent their attempting any thi gto the detriment of 
the state. They are excluded from all offices, and when 
at Venice are required to shew a great deference and- 



Venwe. 371 

respect to the lowest order of nobility, treating each as 
one of their sovereigns. 

In order as much as possible to prevent all intrigues 
in the election of a doge, or duke, the ceremony is 
conducted in the following manner : Upon the decease 
of a doge, the nobles above thirty years of age meet 
in the palace of St. Mark, where a number of balls, 
equal to that of the persons present, are put into an 
urn. Thirty of these are gilt, and the others silvered 
over. Every noble, according to his seniority, draws 
a ball; and they who have drawn the thirty gilt balls 
retire into a private room to continue the election ; but 
in drawing the gilt balls, lest more than one person 
of a family should happen to be appointed electors, the 
relations of him who draws a gilt ball are obliged to 
withdraw, and an equal number of white balls are ta- 
ken out of the vessel as there are persons thus disquali- 
fied. The thirty nobles who drew the gilt balls then 
draw from another urn in which are twenty-one silvered 
and nine gilt balls : they who draw the gilded choose 
forty other electors, all of different families, but are 
allowed to name themselves of the number; and each 
of the four who drew first has a right of nominating five 
electors ; but the five others can name only four each. 
These forty electors are again by lot reduced to twelve, 
who name twenty-five; the first nominating three, 
and each of the other two. These twenty -five draw 
lots a second time to be reduced to nine, and of these 
nine each choose five others ; and from the total forty- 
five, eleven are again separated by lot, who choose 
forty- one others, who are confirmed by the grand coun- 
cil, and being locked up in a particular apartment of 
the ducal palace, there remain till they have chosen a 
new doge. This is done by each of the electors writ- 
ing the name of the person he nominates on a paper 
which he puts into an urn; two of the body, who 
have been previously chosen, and are called secretaries, 
then open the ballots, and select all the different names 
which are found, which are generally but a few, and 



372 ffistory of all J\ations. 

without paying any attention to that name which has 
the greatest number of suffrages, these are put into an- 
other urn, and being shaken together, one paper is 
drawn, and being read aloud, this individual is balloted 
for, and if there are twenty -five votes in his favour he 
is elected, otherwise another name is drawn, aiid so 
on till the appointed number of votes is procured for 
one person. The result of their determination is gene- 
rally known in six or eight hours, and all the foregoing 
ceremonies seldom take up more than two days. This 
election is followed by a kind of coronation, the ducal 
cap being placed with great ceremony on the head of 
the new doge, on the upper step of the entrance into 
St. Mark's church. 

The doge of Venice has little more than the shadow 
of greatness, and has jus ly been defined to be in habit 
and state a king, in authority a counsellor, in the city a 
prisoner, and out of it a private person. He is not so 
much as to stir from the city without the council's per- 
mission ; it is not in his power to pardon a criminal ; 
aV his counsellors have a constant eye over his actions, 
and may vi it his closet every hour : he is as much sub- 
ject to the laws as the meanest person, and when he dies, 
there is no public mourning. 

Nothing can more strongly evince the natural fondness 
of the human heart for external splendour, than that the 
dignity of a Venetian doge is coveted, even under the 
disagreeable restrictions which are laid upon it. The 
state of the doge on all public occasions is indeed very 
magnificent : he is the president of all councils, and in 
the great council has two votes. All the courts stand 
up in his presence, and pay their obeisance to him. Be- 
side, he never rises from his seat, or takes off his cap, 
except at the elevation of the host, before a prince of the 
royal-blood, or a cardinal, to whom he also gives the 
right hand. His name is also stamped on the republic's 
money. All the credentials of the republic's ministers 
to foreign courts are made out in his name, though they 
are neither signed nor sealed by him. The letters of 



Venice. 375 

the republic's ministers, and other instruments from fo- 
reign princes, are directed to him ; yet he is not to open 
them but in the presence of the council. He has the 
dispobal of all preferments in St. Mark's church, of 
which he is invested with the entire jurisdiction ; and 
the knights of St. Mark are created by him alone. He 
likewise fills up the lower offices belonging to the palace : 
and lastly, his family is not subject to any sumptuary 
laws. His annual income is twelve thousand Venetian 
ducats : of this sum he cannot spend less than one half 
on the four grand entertainments he is obliged to give 
every year ; and to support his dignity in a proper 
manner, the remainder is so far from being sufficient, 
that his own private fortune must be drawn upon con- 
siderably. 

Among the other restrictions laid on the doge are the 
following : During his life none of his children or bro- 
thers can hold any of the great honorary offices, nor 
be sent on embassies. He is not to marry the sister or 
relation of a prince, without the consent of the great 
council ; nor can he receive any present from a foreign 
prince. In state affairs he cannot transact the least mat- 
ter without the council ; nor can he resign, though he 
may be deposed. In general his authority is no greater 
than that of a private person, except he has such abilities 
as to influence the whole council ; then indeed his au- 
thority is paramount ; but persons capable of gaining 
such an ascendancy are seldom chosen. On the death 
of the doge, a formal enquiry is made, by six persons, 
chosen for the purpose, and called correctors, whether 
he has abused his power ; whether, from a care of his 
own concerns, he has neglected those of the public; 
whether he has lived agreeably to his dignity, &c. If 
found guilty of any mal- administration, a fine is levied 
on his heirs, proportioned to the nature of the charges 
exhibited. Such are the actual restrictions and im- 
pending dangers, which a doge of Venice must sub- 
mit to ! and the person duly elected is not to decline it. 



3 74 History of all J\ations. 

On Ascension-day, the doge, or, in case of his illness, 
the vice-doge, who is always one of the six consiglieri, 
performs the annual ceremony of marrying the Adriatic 
Sea, in a barge called the bucentaur, which is pompously 
gilt and carved. At about ten in the morning, the sig- 
nal being given by the firing of great guns, and ringing 
of bells, he goes on board of this vessel, and, accompa- 
nied by several thousand barks and gondolas, a great 
number of gallies finely ornamented, and the splendid 
yachts of foreign ambassadors, is rowed out to sea, about 
two hundred paces toward the islands of St. Lido and 
St. Erasmo. The patriarch and dignified clergy come 
on board the bucentaur, and present the doge and sig- 
noria, as they pass, with nosegays or artificial flowers, 
which at their return they make presents of to their ac- 
quaintance. The doge, at his putting off and return, 
is saluted by the cannon of a fort on the Lido, and by 
those on the island Erasmo, and with the small arms of 
the soldiers, who are drawn up along the Lido shore. — 
These islands lie about two Italian miles from the city. 
An eminence on the island of Lido affords a distinct 
view of this pompous procession, and of the vast num- 
ber of boats, &c. which covering the surface of the water 
make a beautiful appearance. In the mean time several 
hymns are performed on board the bucentaur, by the 
band of music belonging to St. Mark's church, and se- 
veral prayers, appointed for the occasion, are read or 
sung, till the doge has passed the two forts of Lido and 
St. Erasmo ; and then he proceeds a little farther to- 
wards the Lido shore, the stern of his barge being turn- 
ed towards the main sea. 

Here the patriarch pours into the sea some holy water, 
which is said to have the virtue of preventing and allay- 
ing storms. After this the doge, through an aperture 
near his seat, drops into the sea a gold ring of a few dol- 
lars value, saying, in Latin, el We espouse thee, O sea, 
" in token of our real and perpetual dominion over 
" thee." After this the procession returns, and the 
doge with his company land near the church of St. Ni» 



Venice. 375 

cholas, in the island of Lido, where the patriarch in per- 
son celebrates a solemn mass. In the evening the prin- 
cipal members of the council, and all who waited up- 
the doge in the bucentaur, are entertained at the ducal 
palace. 

In die grand council all nobles of twenty-five years of 
age may take their place. It usually meets on Sundays 
and holidays in the large hall of the ducal palace. 

The senate or pregadi, are a committee of the grand 
council, by whom they are chosen, and have the ma- 
nagement of the most secret and important affairs of 
state, as the making of alliances, declaring war, con- 
cluding peace, coining money, imposing taxes, Sec. 
They consist of sixty ordinary, and as many extraordi- 
nary members : besides the nine procurators of St. 
Mark, the collegium, the doge's six counsellors, the il 
con siglio di dieci, the censors, the judges della quaran- 
tia eriminale, and other inferior judges, so that the whole 
senate consists of about three hundred persons. 

Mr. Addison observes, that among all the instances 
of their politics, there is none more admirable than the 
great secresy which reigns in their public councils. — 
*' The senate," says he, " is generally as numerous as 
our house of commons, if we only reckon the sitting 
members, and yet carries its resolutions so privately,, 
that they are seldom known till they discover themselves 
in the execution. He gives an instance of their behold- 
ing a great debate concerning the punishment of one 
of their admirals, which continued a month, and con- 
cluded in his condemnation : yet none of his friends, 
nor of those who had engaged warmly in his defence, 
gave him the least intimation of what was passing against 
him, till he was actually seized, and in the hands of 
justice." 

The consiglio di dieci, or council of ten," is a 
high penal court, which consists of ten counsellors ; the 
doge, who is president ; and his six conglieri, or coun- 
sellors. It is supreme in all state crimes, and possesses 
the power of seizing any one who is accused before 



3 76 History of all JKations'. 

them, of committing him to close confinement, and 
prohibiting all communication with his relations and 
friends, of examining and trying him in a summary 
manner, and, if a majority of the council pronounce 
him guilty, of condemning him to death, and they may 
order the execution to be either public or private, as 
they see proper. This formidable tribunal was estab- 
lished in the year 1310. — Payne, 



We turn with horror from a recital of these arbitrary 
powers, and congratulate ourselves that we live in a 
country whose laws are mild, wholesome, and bene- 
ficent ; whose legislators are chosen by the people, for 
short periods ; and where the object of the governors is 
to afford the governed the greatest quantity of human 
happiness at the least possible expence. Free and highly- 
favoured America ! May these blessings be perpetuated 
to the end of time ! May thy rulers (imbibing the 
spirit of Washington, Wallace, Nelson, and Montgo- 
mery*) be men eminent for their virtues, their talents, 
and their patriotism; and may thy citizens, unstained by 
foreign influence, or party -spirit, be ever ready at thy call 
to " do their duty. " 



* The two former persevered, as commanders in chief, till they had secured the 
freedom of their respective countries, and then retired to private life! The twa 
latter fell, fighting valiantly in the came of their native and adopted countries. 



CHRONOLOGY. 

As History gives an account of the revolutions and event® 
which have happened in the world, so chronology points out with 
precision, the precise period when such events took place.— The 
following table will be found of great utility in ascertaining the exact 
period of most of the memorable occurrences in both ancient and 
modern history :— We trust it may be relied on as strictly correct. 

A CHRONOLOGICAL SERIES 



PRINCIPAL EVENTS, 

From the Creation to the present Period, 



Years before 

Christ. 
4004 The creation of the World. 

4003 The birth of Cain ; the first who was born of a woman. 
2348' The Universal Deluge. 
22+7 The building of Babel. 
2217 Nimrod supposed to have built Babylon, and founded the Ba<- 

bylonish monarchy, and Assur to have built Nineveh, and 

founded the monarchy of Assyria. 
21S8 Menes, the son of Ham (in Scripture, Misraim) founds the 

monarchy of Egypt. 
2084 The Shepherd kings conquer Egypt. 
1996 The birth of Abraham. 

1856 Inachus founds the kingdom of Argos in Greece. 
157 I Moses born in Egypt. 
1556 Cecrops founds the kingdom of Athens. 
1529 The deluge of Deucalion in Thessalv. 
1493 Cadmus builds Thebes, and introduces letters into Greece. 
149 I Moses brings the Israelites out of Egypt. 
1453 The first Olympic games celebrated in Greece. 
1452 The Pentateuch, or Five Books of Moses written. 
1451 The Israelites led into the land of Canaan by Joshua. 
1325 The Egyptian canicular year began July 20. 
1266 GZdipus marries his mother Jocasta, and reigns in Thebes. 
3263 The Argonautic expedition. (According to the Newtonian 

chronology, 937.) 
125? Tyre, the capital of Phoenicia, built. 

2z 



378 Chronological Table, 

Years before 
Christ. 

1233 Carthage supposed to be founded by Dido. 
1215 Semiramis supposed to have reigned at Babylon. 
J 193 The Trojan war begins. 
118+ Troy taken and burnt by the Greeks. 
1 182 tineas lands in Italy. 

1069 Codrus, king of Athens, devotes himself for his country. 
1055 David, king of Israel 
1004 Dedication of Solomon's temple. 
886 Homer's poems brought from Asia into Greece. 
776 The first Olympiad begins in this year. 
752 The foundation of Rome by Romulus. 

721 Salmanazar takes Samaria, and carries the ten tribes into cap- 
tivity, which puts an end to the Israelitish kingdom. 
667 The combat between the Horatii and Curiatii. 
606 Nebuchadnezzar takes Jerusalem, and carries the Jews into 

captivity. 
601 Battle between the Medes and Lydians, who are separated by 
a great eclipse of the sun, predicted by Thales. (Newton. 
Chron. 585.) 
— End of the Assyrian empire. Nineveh taken by Nebuchadnezzar, 
599 Birth of Cyrus the Great. 
572 Nebuchadnezzar subdues Egypt. 
566 The first census at Rome. — 84,700 citizens. 
562 Comedies first exhibited at Athens by Thespis. 
538 Babylon taken by Cyrus. End of the Babylonian empire. 
536 Cyrus ascends the throne of Persia. He puts an end to the 

Jewish captivity, which had lasted seventy years. 
520 The Jews begin to build the second temple, which is finished 

in four years. 
510 The Pisistratidae expelled from Athens, and the democracy re- 
stored. 
509 The Tarquins expelled from Rome, and the regal government 

abolished. 
498 The first dictator created at Rome (Lartius). 
497 Institution of the Saturnalia at Rome. 
488 The first tribunes of the people created at Rome. (According 

to Blair, Play fair, &c. 493). 
486 Xerxes succeeds his father Darius in the kingdom of Persia. 
480 The Spartans, under Leonidas, cut to pieces at Thermopylae. 

Naval victory gained by the Greeks over the Persians at Salamis. 

47 1 Volero, the Roman tribune, obtains a law for the election of 

magistrates in the comitaheld by tribes. 
470 Cimon, son of Miltiades, defeats the Persian army and fleet in 

one day, at the mouth of the river Eurymedon. 
469 Capua founded by the Tuscans, 
456 Cincinnatus dictator at Rome. 
455 Commencement of the seventy prophetical weeks of Daniel. 



Chronological Table. 379 

Years before 

Christ. 
453 The number of the tribunes of the people of Rome increased 

from five to ten. 
452 The two books of Chronicles supposed to have been written at 

this time by Ezra. 
45 1 Creation of the decemviri at Rome, and compilation of the laws 

of the twelve tables. 
43 1 The Pe'oponnesian war begins, which lasted twenty-seven years. 
430 The history of the Old Testament ends about this time. 
403 Lysander takes Athens. — Government of the thirty tyrants. 
40 1 Persecution and death of Socrates. 
3$5 Rome taken by the Gauls under Brennus. 
385 War of the allies against Athens. 

— - Philip of Macedon takes Amphipolis.Pydna, and Potida. 
356 Alexander the Great born at Pella, in Macedonia. 

The temple of Diana, at Ephesus, burnt by Erostratus* 

. The Phocian or sacred war begins in Greece. 

343 Syracuse taken by Timoleon, and Dionysius the tyrant banished. 
338 Battle of Cheronoea gained by Philip over the Athenians and 

Thebans. 
335 Alexander chosen generalissimo by the states of Greece* 

Decius devotes himself for his country. 

334- Alexander the Great dies at Babylon. 

320 Ptolemy carries 100,000 Jews captive into Egypt. 

285 The astronomical sera of Dionysius of Alexandria. 

277 The translation of the Septuagint made by order of Ptolemy 

Philadelphus. (Blair, 284.) 
266 Silver money is coined at Rome for the first time. 
2C4 The first Punic war begins. — The Chronicle of Paros composed. 
260 First naval victory obtained by the Romans under the consul 

Duilius. 
240 Comedies are first acted at Rome. 
235 The temple of Janus shut for the first time since the reign of 

Numa. 
216 Battle of Cannae, in which the Romans are' totally defeated by 

Hannibal. 
196 The battle of Zama, and end of the second Punic war. 
190 The Romans enter Asia, and defeat Antigonus at Magnesia. 
173 War between the Romans and Perseus king of Macedon. 
170 Antiochus Epiphanes takes and plunders Jerusalem. 
169 Terence's comedies performed at Rome. 
167 Perseus defeated by Paulus Emilius, and brought prisoner to 

Rome. End of the kingdom of Macedon. 
166 Judas Maccabeus drives the Syrians out of Judea. 
149 The third Punic war begins. 
146 Corinth taken by the consul Mummius. 

Carthage taken and destroyed by the Romans. 

135 The history of the Apocrypha ends. 



380 Chronological Table* 

Years before 

Christ. 

88 Civil war between Marius and Sylla. 

S\ 11a takss possession of Rome. 
82 Sylla perpetual dictator. — His horrible proscription. 
80 Jul us Caesar makes his first campaign. 
72 Lucullus repeatedly defeats Mithridates, and reduces Pontus t« 

a Roman province. 
70 C'-^ssus and Pompey chosen consuls at Rome. 
62 CitaJine's conspiracy quelled at Rome by Cicero. 
59 The first triumvirate: Fompey, Crassus, and Caesar. 
54 Caesar lands in Britain. 

49 Caesar passes the Rubicon, and marches to Rome. 
4S Battle of Pharsalia, in winch Pompey is defeated. 

— The \lexandnan library burnt. 

41- Julius Caesai killed in the Senate-house. 

43 Second triumvirate: Oetavius, Mark Antony and Lepidus. 
42 Battle ofPhilippi, in which Brutus and Cassius are defeated. 
Si Battle of Actium, and end of the Roman Commonwealth. 

■ — 0< lavius emperor. 

30 Death of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. Alexandria taken by 

Oetavius. 
27 Oclavius receives the title of Augustus. 
17 Augustus revives the secular game*. 

8 Census at R>me, when the number of the citizens was found to 

be 4,233,000. 
4 JKSUS CHRIST is born 4 years before the commencement of 
the vulgar a?ra. 

FIRST CENTURY of the Vulgar Christian ^ra. 

Years after 
Christ. 

9 The Roman legions, under Varus, cut to pieces in Germany. 
. — Ovid the poet banished to Pontus. 

14 Tiberius emperor. 

— Tiberius banishes the Jews from Rome. 

26 John the Baptist preaches in Judea the coming of the Messiah. 

3 1 Sej iints disgraced and put to death by Tiberius. 

33 Jesus Christ is crucified. 

35 The conversion of St Paul. 

39 S(. Matthew writes his Gospel. 

42 Claudius emperor. 

43 his expedition into Britain. 

44 Si. Mark writes his Gospel. 

48 Messalina put to death by Claudius, who marries Agrippina, 

the mother of Nero. 
51 Caractacus, the Bntsh king, is carried prisoner to Rome*. 
59 Nero puts to death his mother Agrippina. 



Chronological Table* 381 

A. D. 

61 The Britons, under queen Boadieea, defeat the Romans. 
61 The first persecution of the Christians raised by Nero. 
67 Massacre of the Jews by Florus, at Cesarea, Ptolemais and A- 

lexandria. 
— St. Peter and St. Paul put to death. 
— Josephus, the JVwish historian, governor of Galilee. 
70 Jerusalem taken and destroyed by Titus. 

79 Herculaneum and Pompeii destroyed by an eruption of Ve- 

suvius. 

80 Conquests of Agricola in Britain. 

95 Dreadful persecution of the Christians at Rome and in the pro- 
vinces. 

100 SECOND CENTURY, 

107 Trajan's victories in Asia. 

118 A Irian emperor. 

120 Adrian's wall built across the island of Britain. 

137 Adrian rebudds Jerusalem by the name of iEiia Capitolina. 

138 Antoninus Pius emperor. 

141 The heresies of the Ophites, Cainites, Sethians, &c. appeared. 

151 Justin Martyr publishes his apology for the Christians.. 

161 Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, and Lucius Verus, emperors. 

J71 Death of Verus. Marcus Aurelius sole emperor. 

180 Commodus emperor. 

189 The Saracens defeat the Romans. — This people for the first 

time mentioned in history. 
193 Pertinax emperor. — Didius Julianus purchases the empire; 
— — Pescennius Niger declared emperor in the east. 

Septimius Severus emperor. 

196 Albinus proclaimed emperor in Britain. 

197 defeated by Sever us. He kdls himself. 

200 THIRD CENTURY. 

20S S3verus, wi(h his sons Caracalla and Geta, in Britain. 

209 The Caledonians repulsed, and a wall budt by Severus between 

the rivers Forth and Clyde 
226 The Persians totally defeated by Alexander Severus. 
235 Maximums assassinates Alexander Severus, and is proclaimed 

emperor. 
241 The Fianks were first mentioned in history. 
253 The Goths, Burgundians, &c. make an irruption into Mossia and 

Pannonia. 
^6 1 Sapor, the Persian, takes Antioch, Tarsus, and Cesarea. 
284 Dioclesian emperor. 
— - Aug. 29, or Sept. 17, the Dioclesian aera commenced. 



382 Chronological Table. 

A. D. 

292 Partition of the empire between two Emperors and two Caesars. 
295 Alexandria in Egypt taken by Dioclesian. 

S00 FOURTH CENTURY. 

301 Resignation of Dioclesian and Maximian. 

— — - Galerius and Constantius emperors. 

306 Constantine emperor. — Stops the persecution of the Christians. 

325 — assembles the first general council of Nice, where 

the doctrines of Arius are condemned. 
329 The seat of empire removed to Constantinople. 
! 337 Death of Constantine. — The empire divided among his three 

sons. 
357 The Germans defeated by Julian, at Strasburg. 
' 361 Julian emperor. — Abjures Christianity, and is elected pontifex 

maximus. 
363 Jovian emperor. 

383 The Huns over-run Mesopotamia. They are defeated by the 

Goths. 
392 Theodosius emperor of the east and west. 
395 Arcadius emperor of the east, and Honoriusof the west. 
The Huns invade the eastern provinces. 

400 FIFTH CENTURY. 

Alaric, the Goth, ravages Italy. 

410 Rome sacked and burnt by Alaric. — Death of Alaric. 

41 1 The Vandals settled in Spain. 

416 The Pelagian heresy condemned by the bishops of Africa. 
420 Pharamond, first king of the Franks, supposed to have begun 

his reign. 
426 The Romans withdraw the legions from Britain. 
428 The Franks defeated by jEtius the Roman general. 
435 Publication of the Theodosian code. 

449 Merovseus king of the Franks. 

450 Marcian emperor of the east. 

Atlila the Hun, called the Scourge of God, ravages Germany 

and France. 

451 The Saxons arrive in Britain under the command of Hengist 

and Horsa. 

452 Foundation of the city of Venice. 

455 Rome taken and plundered by Genseric the Vandal. 

46S Euric, king of the Visigoths, drives the Romans out of Spain. 

470 iEIIa, the Saxon, takes possession of the kingdom of Sussex. 

471 vEIIa defeats all the British princes. 

472 Great eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which was seen from Con- 

stantinople. 
476 Rome taken by Odoacer king of ihe Heruli. 



Chronological Table. 383 

A. D. 

476 Extinction of the Western Empire. 
4S l Clovis king of the Franks. 

488 Theodoric, the Ostrogoth, entirely defeats Odoacer, and is ac- 
knowledged king of Italy by the emperor Zeno. 
497 Clovis and the Franks converted to Christianity. 

499 Alliance between Clovis and Theodoric the Great. 

500 SIXTH CENTURY. 

508 Clovis defeated by Theodoric the Great in the battle of Aries; 

510 Paris is made the capital ef the kingdom of the Franks. 

51 1 Death of Clovis ; the kingdom divided between his four sons. 

515 Arthur, king of the Britons, supposed to have begun his reign. 

516 The computation of time by the Christian asra is introduced by 

Dionvsius the Monk. 

529 Belisanus, general of Justinian, defeats the Persians. 

The books of the civil law published by Justinian. 

537 Belisarius subdues the Ostrogoths in Italy, and takes Rome. 

540 — refuses to accept the crown of Italy. 

543 Totila, the Goth, recovers Italy from the Romans. 

547 takes and plunders Rome. 

551 The manufacture of silk introduced into Europe. 

576 Narses, recalled from Italy, invites the Lombards to take pox- 
session of the country. 

568 Italy conquered by the Lombards. 

571 Birth of Mahomet, the false prophet. 

580 The Latin tongue ceased to be spoken in Italy about this time. 

597 Augustine, the monk, converts the Saxons to Christianity. 

600 SEVENTH CENTURY. 

602 Phocas emperor. — Acknowledges the supremacy of the popes. 

607 The temple of the Pantheon, at Rome, dedicated to God, the 
Virgin, and all the saints. 

609 The Jews of Antioch massacre the Christians, 

616 Jerusalem taken by the Persians, under Cosroes II. 

622 iEraofthe Hegira, or flight of Mahomet from Mecca to Medina. 

632 Death of Mahomet. — Abubekir succeeds him as caliph of the 
Saracens. 

636 Jerusalem taken by Omar and the Saracens, who keep posses- 
sion of it 463 years. 

640 The library of Alexandria, founded by Ptolemy Philadelphus, is 
burnt by the Saracens. 

645 Otman succeeds Omar in the caliphate. 

653 The Saracens take Rhodes. 

654 Childeric II. king of Austrasia. 

685 The Britons, totally subdued by the Saxons, retreat into Wales 
and Cornwall. 



384 Chronological Table. 

700 ' EIGHTH CENTURY. 

71.3 Fp-iin conquered by the Saracens under Muca, the genera! of 
the calipi; Walid. 

726 The emperor Leo, the Isaurian, orders the images in the Chris- 

tian churches to be thrown down. 

727 Civil war against Leo on that account. 

74-2 Const an tine Copronymus emperor, succeeds Leo. 

Charlemagne born. m . 

751 Pep.n le Bref king of France ; the founder of the Carlovingian 

race. 
772 Charles (Charlemagne) sole monarch ot France. 

774 Charlemagne defeats Desiderius, and puts an end to the king- 

dom of the Lombards. 

775 Leo IV. emperor, succeeds Constantine Copronymus. 
779 Charlemagne conquers Navarre and Sardinia. 

781 Re-establi<hment ot the worship of images by Irene. 
785 Charlemagne entirely subdues the Saxons. 

787 The seventh general council, or second of Nice, is held. 

788 Irene puts to death her son Constantine, and is proclaimed sole 

empress. 
793 Irene deposed and confined to a monastery. 
— - Nicephorus emperor. 
79V Charlemagne defeats and extirpates the Huns. 

800 NINTH CENTURY. 

— - New empire of the west. — Charlemagne crowned emperor at 
Rome. 

SI 4 Lewis le Debonnaire emperor of the west. 

827 The kingdoms of the Saxon Heptarchy united under Egbert. 

838 The Scots entirely subdue the Picts. 

842 Germany separated from the empire of the Franks. — Lewis of 
Bavaria, emperor of Germany. 

867 The Danes begin to ravage England. 

8S6 The university of Oxford founded by Alfred. 

SS7 The Normans besiege Paris, which is gallantly defended by 
bishop Goslin and count Eudes. 

890 Alfred the Great composes his code of laws, and divides Eng- 
land into counties, hundreds, and lithings. 

900 TENTH CENTURY. 

Lewis IV. emperor of Germany. 

901 Edward the Elder succeeds vlfred in the kingdom of England. 
975 Pope Boniface deposed and banished for his crimes. 

987 Hugh Capet king of France, founder of the third race of the 

French kings. 
991 The Arabic numeral cyphers first introduced into Europe by the 

Saracens. 



\ Chronological Table, 385 

1000 ELEVENTH CENTURY. 

1002 Great massacre of the Danes by Ethelred king of England. 

1017 Canute, the Dane, king of England. 

1025 Musical characters invented by Guido Aretino. 

10+0 Macbeth usurps the throne of Scotland. 

1041 The Saxon line of the English monarchs restored under Ed» 

ward the Confessor. 
104.3 The Turks, under Tangrolipix, take possession of Persia. 
1054. Leo IX. the first pope who maintained a regular army. 

1065 The Turks take Jerusalem from the Saracens. 

1066 The conquest of England by William duke of Normandy. 
1070 The feudal law introduced into England. 

1086 Doomsday-book completed by William the Conqueror. 

1087 William II. (Rufus) king of England, succeeds William the 

Conqueror. 
1095 The first crusade to the Holy Land. — Peter the Hermit. 

1099 Jerusalem taken by Godfrey of Bouillon. 

11 00 TWELFTH CENTURY. 

Henry I. (Beauclerc) king of England. 

1 107 Alexander I. king of Scotland. 

1118 The order of the Knights Templars instituted. 

1139 Alphonso, first-king of Portugal, rescues that kingdom from 
the Saracens. 

i 140 The canon law first introduced into England. 

114-1 Stephen, king of England, taken prisoner in the battle of Lin- 
coln. 

1147 The second crusade excited by St. Bernard. 

1150 The study of the civil law is revived at Bologna. 

1 152 Frederic Barbarossa, emperor of Germany. 

1164 Institution of the order of Teutonic knights in Germany. 

1 165 William the Lion king of Scotland. 
1 1 72 Conquest of Ireland by Henry II. 

1 187 The city of Jerusalem taken by Saladin. 

1 1 89 Richard I. (Cosur de Lion) king of England. 

— — The third crusade, under Richard I. and Philip Augustus. 

1 192 Richard I. defeats Saladin in the battle of Ascalon in Judea. 

1200 THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 

1202 The fourth crusade sets out from Venice. 

Constantinople taken by the Turks and Venetians. 

1208 London incorporated. Obtains a charter for electing its 

mayor and magistrates. 
1215 Magna Charta signed by king John. 
1227 The Tartars under Gengis-Khan, over-run the empire of the 

Saracens, 

3 A 



386 Chronological Tablet 

A. D. 

1234 The Inquisition committed to the Dominican monks. 

1258 Bagdat taken by the Tartars. — End of the empire of the Sara? 
cens. 

J 263 The Norwegians invade Scotland, and are defeated by Alex- 
ander III. 

1264 The deputies of towns and boroughs first summoned to the 
English parliament. 

1273 Rodolph ofHapsburg, emperor of Germany, the first of the 
Austrian family. 

1282 The Sicilian vespers, when 8000 French were massacred. 

1283 The conquest of Wales by Edward I. 

1291 Ptolemais taken by the Turks. — End of the crusades. 
1293 From this year there is a regular succession of English parlia- 
ments. 
1 298 The present Turkish empire begins in Bithynia under Ottoman . 
■ . . William Wallace regent of Scotland. 

1300 FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 

1302 The mariners compass said to be discovered at Naples. 

1307 The establishment of the Swiss republics. 

1310 The knights of St. John take the island of Rhodes. 

1314 Battle of Bannockburn, in which the Scots defeat the English. 

1340 Gunpowder invented by Swartz, a monk of Cologne. 

1346 Battle of Cressy won by Edward III. and the Black Prince, 

over the French, August 26. 

1347 The Admiralty Court, Doctors Commons, instituted in Eng- 

land. 
1330 The order of the garter instituted in England, April 23. 
1352 The Turks first enter Europe. 
1356 The battle of Poictiers, in which John II. king of France, is 

taken prisoner, September 19. 
1362 The law pleadings in England changed from French to English. 
1377 The seat of the popes was removed from Avignon to Rome. 
1381 Wat Tyler's insurrection in England, July. 

Bills of exchange were first used in England. 

1383 Cannon were first used in the English service by the governor 

of Calais. 
1388 Battle of Otterburn between Percy (Hotspur) and Douglas, 

July 31. 

1400 FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 

1402 Bajazet taken prisoner by Tamerlane in the battle of Angoria, 
July 28. 

1415 Henry V. defeats the French at Agincburt, Oct. 25. 
— — John Huss condemned and burnt for heresy, July 6. 

1416 Jerome of Prague burnt for heresy. 

! 420 The Portuguese discover the island of Madeira. 



'Chronological Table. 387 

A. D. 

1421 The revenue of England amounted to only 55,754/. 

1428 Joan of Arc compels the English to raise the siege of Orleans. 

1436 Paris recovered from the English by the French. 

1 439 The pragmatic sanction established in France. 

1440 Invention of the art of printing by Tohn Guttenburg at Stras- 

burg. 
1453 Constantinople taken by the Turks, May 29. 

Extinction of the Eastern empire. 

1485 Henry VII. king of England. Union of the houses of York 

and Lancaster. 

1491 Grenada taken by Ferdinand and Isabella. End of the king- 

dom of the Moors in Spain. 

1492 Hispaniola and Cuba discovered by Christopher Columbus. 
1494 Algebra first known in Europe. 

1 497 The Portuguese, under Vasco de Gama, double the Cape of 
Good Hope, and sail to the East Indies. 

1499 Sebastian Cabot lands in North America, 

1500 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 

— —Maximilian divides Germany into six circles, and adds four 

more in 1512. 
1517 The reformation in Germany begun by Luther. 

1519 Charles V. king of Spain, elected Emperor of Germany. 

1520 The massacre of Stockholm by Christian II. and archbishop 

Trollo. 

1522 The first voyage round the world performed by a ship of Ma- 
gellan's squadron. 

1527 Rome taken and plundered by Charles V. 

1529 Peace of Cambray. — The reformed first termed Protestants. 

1534 The reformation in England under Henry VIII. 

1540 Dissolution of the monasteries in England. 

1545 The council of Trent begins, and continues eighteen years. 

1546 Cardinal Beaton, archbishop of St. Andrews, assassinated. 
1560 The reformation completed in Scotland by John Knox. 
1566 The first commotions begin in the Netherlands. 

1572 The massacre of St. Bartholomew at Paris. 

1576 The league against the Protestants begins in France. 

1579 The commencement of the republic of Holland, by the union 

of Utrecht. 

1580 The world circumnavigated by Sir Francis Drake. 

1582 The new style introduced into Italy by pope Gregory XIII. ; 

Oct. 5 being reckoned Oct. 15. 
1584 William I, prince of Orange, murdered at Delft. 

1587 Mary queen of Scots beheaded, Feb. 8. 

1588 Destruction of the Spanish armada, July 17. 

1589 Henry III. of France murdered by Jaques Clement. 
1598 Edict of Nantes, tolerating the Protestants in France. 



388 . ■ Chronological Table. 

A. D. 

1600 SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 

1602 Decimal arithmetic invented at Bruges. 

1603 James I. king of Great Britain Union of the crowns of Eng- 

land and Scotland. 
J 605 The gunpowder-plot discovered. 
160S Galileo discovers the satellites of Jupiter. 
J 610 Henry IV. of France murdered by Ravaillac. 
1611 Baronets first created in England by James I. 
J 61 4 Logarithms invented by Napier, baron of Merchistoun. 
1616 Settlement of Virginia by sir Walter Raleigh. 

1618 The synod of Dort in Holland. 

1619 Discovery of the circulation of the blood by Dr. Harvey. 
1625 The island of Barbadoes planted : — the first English settle- 
ment in the West-Indies. 

1632 Gustavus Adolphus killed in the battle of Lutzen. 

1633 Galileo condemned by the inquisition at Rome. 
— — Louisiana discovered by the French. 

16+2 Beginning of the civil war in England. — Battle of Edgehill, 

Oct. 23. 
1649 Charles I. of England beheaded, Jan. 30. 
The commonwealth of England begins, March 17. 

1652 The first war betwixt the English and Dutch. 

1653 End of the commonwealth of England.-— Oliver Cromwell 

lord protector, Dec. 13. 

1655 The English under admiral Penn, take possession of Jamai- 
ca, May 7. 

1660 Charles IX. king of Great Britain. — Restoration of monarchy. 

The king of Denmark declared absolute, and the throne he- 
reditary, Oct. 13, O. S. 

1662 The Royal Society instituted in England. 

1663 Carolina planted. 

1666 Sabatei Levi pretends to be the Messiah in Turkey. 

. — — The Scotch covenanters defeated on Pentland hills. 

1C67 The peace of Breda, which confirms to the English, Pennsyl. 

vania, New York, and New- Jersey. 
1668 The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, April 22, O. S. 
1678 The Habeas-Corpus act passed in England. 
16S2 Peter the Great czar ol Muscovy. 
1683 Execution of lord Russel and Algernon Sydney. 

1689 Battle of Gilliecrankie. The Viscount of Dundee slain, 

July 27. ' ' 

1690 Battle of the Boyne, July 1. 
1692 Battle of La Hogue, May 19. 
1694 The bank of England incorporated. 



Chronological Table. 389 

A. D 

1700 EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 

1703 Gibraltar taken by admiral Rooke, July 24. 

Battle of Blenheim, August 2, won by the duke of Marlbo- 
rough and allies. 

1706 Battle of Ramilies, May 12. 

The treaty of union between England and Scotland, siened 

July 22. * 

1709 Battle ot Pultowa, in which Charles XII. is beaten by Peter 
the Great, June 30. 

Battle of Malplaquet won by the duke of Marlborough and the 

allies, September 11. 

1714- George I. elector of Hanover, king of Great Britain. 

1715 The rebellion in Scotland. — Battle of Sheriff-muir, Novem- 
ber 13. 

1718 Charles XI/ of Sweden killed at the siege of Frederickshall. 

1720 The South-Sea scheme breaks up. 

1727 Inoculation first tried on criminals with success. 

— — Russia, formerly a dukedom, now established as an empire. 

1732 Kouli-Khan usurps the throne of Persia, conquers the Mogul 
. empire, and returns with two hundred and thirty-one mil- 
lions sterling. 

The settlement of Georgia, in North America, began. 

1736 Captain Porteus having ordered his soldiers to fire upon the 

populace at an execution of a smuggler, is himself hanged 

by a mob at Edinburgh. 
1738 Westminster-bridge began ; finished in 1750. 
1745 Rebellion in Scotland — The pretender's army defeated at 

Culloden, April 16, 1746. 
1752 The new style introduced into England, the third of September 

being counted the fourteenth. 

1756 Lisbon destroyed by an earthquake. 

1757 Damien's conspiracy against the king of France, January 5. 

1759 General Wolfe defeated the French, and took Quebec, Sep.l 7. 

1760 A transit of Venus over the Sun, June 6. ? 
George III. king of Great Britain, Oct. 25! 

1762 War declared by England against Spain. 
Martinico surrendered to the English. 

Peace between Great Britain and France, at Fontainbleau 

Nov. 3. ' 

1763 The peace of Paris, between Great Britain, France, and 

Spam, acceded to by Portugal, Feb. 10. 
The expulsion of the Jesuits from France completed. 

1764 Famine and pestilence in Italy. 

Byron made discoveries in the Pacific Ocean. 

1765 The American stamp-act repealed, March 18. 
1768 The Royal Academy of Arts at Lonnon. 

— — The Jesuists are expelled from Naples, Malta, and Parma. 



390 Chronological Table. 

A. D. 

1768 Bougainville made discoveries in the Pacific Ocean. 

1769 Cook made discoveries in the Pacific Ocean. 

1771 An emigration of 50U,000 Tourgouths, from the coast of 

the Caspian Sea to the frontiers of China. 

1772 A revolution in Sweden, August 19. 

Poland dismembered by the empress of Russia, the king of 

Prussia, and the house of Austria. 

1773 Cook made discoveries in the Pacific Ocean, and sailed to 71 

degrees 10 minutes south latitude. 

A comet appeared, August 15. 

1776 The Americans declared themselves independent, July 4. 

1778 Treaty of alliance between the French king and the Ameri- 

can states, Oct. Jo. 
Engagement of the English and French fleets ofFBrest, July 27 . 

1779 A tremendous eruption of Mount Vesuvius, August 8. 
The siege of Gibraltar by the Spaniards began in July. 

1780 Admiral Rodney defeated the Spanish fleet, and took 22 sail, 

Jan. 16. 

— — Charleston, in America, surrendered to the English, May 12. 

An insurrection and riot in London. 

17 SO War was declared in England against the Dutch, Decern. 20. 

Tobago taken by the French. 

The English army, under the command of Lord Cornwallis, 

surrendered to the united forces of France and America, at 
York-town, Oct. 18. 

1782 Admiral Rodney defeated the French fleet commanded by- 
count de Grasse, off Dominica, April 12. 

178S Peace between Great Britain, France, and Spain. 

■ America declared independent, by Great Britain, Jan. 20. 

A dreadful earthquake in Sicily. — Messina destroyed, Feb. 5. 

1784 Ardchindschan, in Turkey, destroyed by an earthquake, and 

12,000 persons buried in its ruins. 

Hail-stones as large as hens' eggs fell at Iram in the Pyrenees, 

July 18. 

1785 Sunday schools first established in England. 

1786 Margaret Nicholson, a mad woman, attempted to stab the 

king of England, August 2. 

1787 A most dreadful storm in Normandy, August 4. 

1788 The notables of France convened by the king. 

1789 The French revolution commenced July 4, and the Bastile ta- 

ken. 

1790 Religious houses abolished in France. 

1791 The king and Royal family of France attempt to escape out 

of the kingdom, but were brought back by force, June 22. 

1792 Louis XVI. renounced the sovereignty of France, August 10. 
■ A dreadful plague in Egypt, of which nearly 300,000 dies. 



Chronological Table. 391 

A. D. 

1793 The king of France beheaded, January 21st, and the queen 
October 16th, following. 

■ War commenced between England and France. 

179* Lord Howe defeated the French fleet, June 1. 

1795 Gold discovered in the Wicklow mountains in Ireland. 

1796 Five Dutch men-of-war, and several frigates, in Saldana bay, 

surrendered to the English Admiral Elphinston, Aug. 19. 

1797 Admiral Duncan took and destroyed fifteen Dutch ships of 

the line, October 11. 

1798 Admiral Nelson totally defeated the French in the mouth 

of the Nile, August 1 . 

1799 George Washington, late President of the United States, and 

commander in chief of the American forces during the re- 
volutionary war, died at his country seat, " Mount Vernon" 
in Virginia, December 22, aged 68 years. 
— — Seringapatam, in the East Indies, taken by the English May 
16. A plague at Fez, of which died 247,000 persons. 

1800 NINETEENTH CENTURY. 

The society called "The Royal institution of Great Britain," 

founded March 11. 
— — The king of England shot at with ahorse pistol, by a madman 
of the name of Hatfield, at Drury -lane Theatre, May 15. 

Memorable battle of Marengo, gained by general Bonaparte. 

Vaccine innoculation, by Dr. Jenner, comes into general use 

in Europe. 

1 801 Union of Great Britain and Ireland, January 1. 

Copenhagen blockaded by Lord Nelson, April 2. 

The French troops completely vanquished in Egypt by gene- 
ral Hutchinson, and compelled to return to France, Sept. 3. 

1802 Peace proclaimed in London, April 29. 

1803 Louisiana purchased by the United States for fifteen millions 

of dollars. 
1 804" Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned emperor of the French (at 

Paris) September 2. He was born in the island of Corsica, 

August 15, 1769. 
Major general Alexander Hamilton, late secretary of the 

Treasury of the United States, died July 12. / 

1 805 Admiral Lord Nelson was slain at the battle of Trafalgar, 

October 21. 

1806 William Pitt, the English Premier, died Jan. 23, in the 47th 

year of his age, 23 of which he had ruled the British empire 
with an influence unprecedented in the annals of modern 
history. 



392 



A. D. 



Vhronoiogical Table, 



1806 Charles James Fox, the English minister of foreign relations, 

died September 13. He and Mr. Pitt were considered as 
stars of the first magnitude in the political horizon : The 
former was regarded as the friend of the people, and was a 
statesman of consummate abilities. 

1807 A most bloody, and decisive battle was fought at the town of 

Friedland, in Poland, betwixt the Russians, and the French. 
___ . A Treaty of Peace between France and Prussia, signed, at 

Tilsit, July 12th. 
- A Treaty of Peace between France and Russia, was signed 

about the same time. 



FINIS. 




APPENDIX. 



JL HE events which have sprung out of the French 
Revolution, have produced such a change in the political 
condition of Europe ; and these events succeed each 
other with such rapidity, that we have found it necessary 
toa dd an Appendix to our Work; that we might bring 
the History of Europe to as late a period of time as pos- 
sible. 



ENGLAND. 

THE liberal policy of the English ministry, of which the late 
Charles James Fox was the leader, induced them to endeavour 
to remove, or to lessen, the obnoxious tests and disqualifications 
which for a long time had deprived the state of the services of a 
very large proportion of its people, the Dissenters and the Roman 
Catholics. After the death of that illustrious statesman, his col- 
leagues proposed to introduce a bill into parliament to this effect, 
and submittted an outline of it to the king for his opinion. His 
majesty, considering that his assent to the passing of such a bill, 
would be a violation of his coronation oath, which obliges him to 
preserve undiminished the privileges of the church, of which he 
is the constitutional head, and believing his ministers were attempt- 
ing to entrap his conscience, gave the measure his decided disap= 
probation, dismissed its authors from his councils, formed a new 
ministry, and by dissolving parliament, appealed to the sense of 
his people for the rectitude of his conduct. The new parliament 
accordingly met on the 22d of June, 1807? but were soon after 

S B 



ii; APPENDIX. 

prorogued to the 14th of August, and afterwards still further proro* 
gued to the 24th of September. 

In the interim, a general peace (with the exception of Sweden) 
has taken place on the continent of Europe ; and England is left 
to continue the contest alone against a power by whom that conti- 
nent has been completely subjugated, and with men at the head of 
her councils who are supposed to be inimical to peace. 

Circumstances have also recently occurred which place Great- 
Britain in a very unpleasant situation with respect to two powers 
who have hitherto remained neutral during the war. We allude 
to the United States and the kingdom of Denmark. An unwar- 
rantable attack has been made upon the national sovereignty of 
the former, which we shall notice in its proper place ; and a pow- 
erful fleet has been sent to the Baltic, to compel the latter to re- 
linquish its neutrality. What the consequence of these measures 
may be, it is impossible for us at the present crisis to know, and 
we are not disposed to amuse the reader with idle conjecture. 

The following estimate of the annual value of some of the prin- 
cipal manufactures in England, and of the number of persons em- 
ployed in them, is chiefly founded on official returns. 

Annual Value.. Persons Employed* 

Woollen 16,400,000 440,340 

Cotton 10,000,000 347,271 

Leather 10,500,000 241,818 

Iron, tin, and lead 10,000,000 200,000 

Steel, plating, &c. 4,000,000 70,000 

Copper and brass 3,600,000 60,000 

Linen and flax 3,000,000 95,000 

Silk 2,700,000 65,000 

Hemp 1,600,000 35,000 

Potteries 2,000,000 45,000 

Glass 1,500,000 3,0,000 

Paper 900,000 30,000 

66,200,000 1,665,429 

The annual value of other manufactures of less importance, is 
estimated at four or five millions, and the number of persons em- 
ployed in them to about one hundred thousand. 

The public revenue of England was, in the year 1100, three 
hundred thousand pounds sterling ; during the three following 
centuries, one hundred thousand pounds ; in 1500, four hundred 
thousand poinds ; in 1600, five hundred thousand pounds ; in 
1700, four millions j and in 1800, thirty millions, 

UNITED STATES. 
The unpleasant affair, to which we have alluded in our remarks 
upon England, and which in its consequences may possibly involve 



APPENDIX. in 

the two countries in hostilities, is an attack made upon the United 
States frigate Chesapeake, commodore Barron, by the British 
ship of war Leopard, on the 22d of June, 1807- A demand 
was made at sea by the captain of the Leopard, for permission to 
examine the Chesapeake's crew, on pretence that she had on board 
sundry deserters from British ships of war then lying in Hampton 
Roads or at Halifax. Commodore Barron refused his consent to 
so unprecedented a demand, as being contrary to the orders of his 
government and to the acknowledged law of nations. A broad- 
side from the Leopard was immediately poured into the Chesa- 
peake, who, unsuspicious of danger, was not in a situation to offer 
any resistance.— She struck her colours. The captain of the Leo- 
pard, after having taken out four of her men, (who have since 
been tried at Halifax, and one of them executed on a charge of 
desertion and mutiny) refused to keep possession of the frigate, and 
she returned dismasted and disabled to Norfolk, having had some 
of her men killed and wounded ; amongst the latter was the com- 
modore himself. This affair roused the indignant spirit of the 
country ; party-prejudice seemed to be annihilated ; and from one 
end of the United States to the other but one sentiment prevailed — • 
a resolution to support the government in defending the national 
honour. The president issued a proclamation, interdicting all 
communication with any British armed vessels, and forbidding 
their entrance into our harbours or waters ; and a representation 
of all the circumstances has been forwarded to the court of Lon- 
don. Here, at present, the matter rests. 

SWISSERLAND, 

It is painful to the mind to contemplate Swisserland as it was a 
few years ago, in contrast with the situation to which it is now 
reduced. 

It consisted heretofore of twenty republics, forming (like the 
United States of America) one general republic ; and, though a 
collactive body without sovereignty, the people had this imperfec- 
tion more than counterbalanced by the invaluable privilege of 
obeying their own laws, and of being governed by great and good 
men selected from amongst themselves. Its counsellors were 
wise, its soldiers valiant, its situation circumscribed, its politics 
peaceable, and its citizens happy. 

It is now in fact, though not in name, a province of France ; 
its landamman is Reinhard, one of the French deputies at Ratis- 
bon who escaped assassination ; and its ancient proud and inde- 
pendent spirit is extinguished. In the strong- language of one 
who had suffered severely from the destruction of the Helvetic 
confederacy, " it is the empty and bloody skin of an immolated 
victim : it has nothing left now but rocks, ruins, and demagogues." 



iv APPENDIX. 

Yet that instinctive predilection which almost every man enter- 
tains for his native soil, is, perhaps of all others, the most deeply 
implanted in the heart of a Swiss. Whilst engaged in the service 
of a foreign country, on his march, or fighting its battles as a mer- 
cenary machine, the delightful air of the " Ran% des Vaches" will 
transport him beyond himself; it presents so exquisite a picture of 
the joys he has left behind him, that he will instinctively stand still j 
perhaps he will desert ; and, if not allowed to do either, he will 
commit suicide. The French government, from a knowledge of 
these inevitable consequences, issued orders that this air should not 
be played to the Swiss soldiery under pain of military execution. 
For the gratification of the learned reader, we have subjoined a li- 
teral copy of this enchanting composition, which ',' takes the 
prisoned soul'' of a Swiss, " and laps it in elysium.'' 

RANZ DES VACHES. 

Quand reverrai-je, en un jour, 
Tous les objets de mon amour ? 

Nos clairs ruisseaux, 

Nos coteaux, 

Nos hameaux, 

Nos montagnes, 

Et romement de nos campagnes, 

La si-gentle Isabeau ? 
A l'ombre d'un ormeau 
Quand danserai-je au son du chalumeau r 

Quand reverrai-je, en un jour, 
Tous les objets de mon amour ? 
Mon pere, 
Ma mere, 
Mon frere, 
Ma sceur, 
Mes agneaux, 
Mes troupeaux, 
Ma bergere ? 
Quand reverrai-je, en un jour, 
Tous les objets de mon amour ? 
In English. 
When shall I behold again, in one day, all the objects of my 
love? our clear streams, our cottages, our hamlets, eur mountains, 
and the ornament of our fields, the gentle Isabella ? Under the 
shade of an oak, when shall I dance once more to the sound of the 
pipe ? 

When shall I behold again, in one day, all the objects of my 
love ? my father, my mother, my brother, my sister, my lambs, my 
flocks, my shepherdess ? When shall J. behold again, in one day, 
all these objects of my affection ? 



APPENDIX. 



FRANCE. 



Since the regular history of this country was put to press, the 
great contest, which has made Europe a scene of the most san- 
guinary warfare, is terminated. Treaties of peace were signed 
with the emperor of Russia on the 7th of July, and with the king 
of Prussia on the 9th ; and the territory of the latter, nearly the 
whole of which was in the possession and at the disposal of the 
conqueror, has been restored to him, with the exception of Silesia, 
and a few other places of minor consequence. The ratifications 
were exchanged within three days at Tilsit, at a time when one-half 
of the town was occupied by the French, and the other half by the 
troops of the combined powers. On the continent the emperor of 
the French has now to contend only with the king of Sweden, who 
will not be considered a formidable enemy, and who must shortly 
be subdued. Napoleon will then turn his undivided attention to 
England. 

The following quotation, from a respectable source, will give 
the reader some idea of the sanguinary contests which recently took 
place between the Russian and French armies in Poland. 

" At the battle of Hieldsberg, the grand duke of Berg, (Murat, 
brother-in law to the emperor of the French) passed along the 
line of the third division of cuirassiers, at the moment in which 
the sixth regiment had charged. Colonel d'Avary, commander 
of the regiment, his sword dyed in blood, said, " Prince, review my 
regiment, and you will find that there is not a soldier whose sword 
is not like mine ! I" 

SWEDEN. 

Sweden is at present, as we have observed in the preceding arti- 
cle, at war with France, whose troops have captured Stralsund. 

According to a statistical survey of this kingdom, given in the 
Journal de Frankfort of July last, it contains (including Pomerania) 
1 3,565 square miles, more than half of which is uncultivated. The 
population is estimated at 3,299,356 souls, which gives 243 people 
to each square mile. Of this mass there are 120,630 gentlemen, 
16,424 ecclesiastics, 7126 students, 1275 merchants, 17,233 shop- 
keepers, 2605 manufacturers, 87,439 trades-people, 2,572,996 
peasants, 19,653 sailors, and 188,734 military people. The land- 
forces in the year 1805, were 47,165 men. The fleet is divided 
into the grand fleet and the galley fleet. The first, in 1805, con- 
sisted of 16 sail of the line fit for service, 12 frigates, and several 
other small vessels. The galley fleet amounted to 183 sail. These 
two fleets carried 3048 guns, and had 14,208 sailors and other ma- 
riners. The revenues of the state are 1 1,500,000 florins, the ex- 
pences 11,030,000, the national debt 18 millions. 



APPENDIX. 



PRUSSIA. 



We have already noticed the situation to which the conqueror 
of Europe has reduced the king of Prussia, The latter, on the 
1 4th of July, (the anniversary of the French revolution) absolved 
the inhabitants of the ceded provinces from their former allegiance 
to him, by a proclamation so very humiliating, that we cannot re- 
sist the impulse we feel to give it to our readers. 

" You are acquainted, beloved inhabitants of faithful provinces, 
territories, and towns, with my sentiments, and with the events of 
last year. My arms, benumbed under the pressure of misfortunes, 
the exertions of the last remains of my army proved fruitless. Forced 
back to the uttermost borders of the empire, and even my powerful 
ally having judged it necessary to conclude an asmistice and peace, 
nothing remained for me but the wish to restore tranquility to my 
country after the calamities of war. Peace was to be concluded 
as circumstances dictated ; the most painful sacrifices were re- 
quired of myself and my house. What ages and worthy ancestors, 
conventions, love, and confidence, had united, were to be severed. 
My efforts — the exertions of all who belonged to me — were in vain. 
Fate ordains — a father parts with his children. 

" I release you from all allegiance to my person and my house. 
My most ardent wishes for your prosperity attend you to your new 
sovereign ; be to him what you were to me. No fate, no power 
can efface in my bosom and in the mind of my family the remem- 
brance of you. 

« FREDERICK WILLIAM. 
" Memel, July Uth, 1807." 

IRELAND. 

The following character of Irish hospitality is taken from one of 
Current's celebrated speeches. 

" The hospitality of other countries is a matter of necesssity or 
convenience — in savage nations of the first — in polished, of the lat- 
ter ; but the hospitality of an Irishman is not the running account 
of pofcted and ledgered courtesies es in other countries ; it springs, 
like all his qualities, his faults, his virtues, directly from his heart. 
The heart of an Irishman is by nature bold, and he confides ; is ten- 
der, and he loves ; is generous, and he gives ; social, and he is 
hospitable." 

PERSIA. 

Government.— /The Persian government was monarchical! 
and in every branch of it strictly despotic. 

The usual title of the king was Shah, or Shaw, as it is pronounced, 
which signifies " the disposer of kingdoms," and is the highes? 



APPENDIX. vii 

title known in Asia, it being equivalent to that of emperor in Eu- 
rope. They also added to the king's titles those of sultan, and khan 
or cawn, which is the title of the Tartar sovereigns. His arms 
were a lian couchant, looking at the sun as it rises over his back. 

The Persians readily obeyed all the commands of their prince 
without reserve ; so that if the son was commanded to be the fa- 
ther's executioner, or the father the son's, it must be complied with. 
Yet they said, if he commanded any thing contrary to the peculiar 
tenets of their religion, they were under no obligation to obey him. 
Several writers mention a minister in the Persian court, whom the. 
king commanded to drink with him ; but he excused himself by 
saying, he had been a pilgrimage to Mecca, and could not drink 
wine without violating the laws of their religion : to which the king 
replied, " Thousands have gone a pilgrimage to Mecca, and yet 
drink wine ; drink ther£fore when thy sovereign commands thee." 
But the minister still refusing, the king not only abused him in the 
grossest manner, but made the servants throw the wine into his 
face, and pour it by force into his mouth ; then threatened him 
with immediate death : to which the other returned, That he had 
a right to his life, but not to his religion ; and he chose rather to 
die than to drink. The king then dismissed him from his employ- 
ments ; but he was soon after restored, and seemed to be doubly 
honoured by the king, for the resolution he had shewn in refusing 
to violate his conscience. 

Laws. — The laws of the Persians are blended with their reli- 
gion, agreeably to the grand principle of the Mahometans, that the 
same person ought to bear the spiritual and temporal swords, and 
be both king and high -priest : that he ought to command in war, 
and administer justice, as well as explain the articles of faith, and 
regulate their ecclesiastical discipline ; and with this power both 
Mahomet and his successors, the caliphs, were invested during the 
first iive centuries. 

In cases of rebellion, the late princes of Persia have been entire 
strangers to humanity ; and, not satisfied with punishing the prin- 
cipals, most, if not all those who were taken in arms, lost their eyes 
or their heads ! 

Criminals of state were sentenced to wear, for a determined space 
of time, a heavy wooden collar about their necks, to which one of 
their hands was fastened. 

If a person had the misfortune to kill another, and the fact was 
proved before the judges, he was delivered up to the relations of 
the deceased, who were thus addressed : " I deliver you the mur- 
derer according to law : make yourselves satisfaction with his 
blood for the blood that he has spilt ; but remember that God is 
merciful." When the miserable wretch was delivered to his ene- 
mies, they generally inflicted on him the most cruel tortures they 
could invent ; and it is said, that the women, who scarce ever ap- 



viii APPENDIX. 

peared abroad on any other occasion, would come and Imbrue their 
hands in his blood ! 

Pick-pockets and pilferers were marked with a hot iron in the 
forehead, and house-breakers had their right hands cut off. The 
same punishment was inflicted on those who counterfeited the coin, 
for the first offence ; but for the second, their bellies were ript open. 
They had some other punishments for capital crimes, as impaling, 
setting them up to the chin in the earth, cutting off the hands and 
feet, and leaving the poor wretches in that deplorable condition 
till they expired. 

Bakers and victuallers have been sometimes baked and roasted 
alive, for cheating in their weights, and raising provisions to an 
exorbitant price. 

Religion of the Persians. — The established religion of 
Persia acknowledges the Koran to be the great law of the prophet 
Mahomet, in as full a manner as it is received among the Turks ; 
but in this their common faith has not been influential in producing 
concord ; for the private interests and views of individuals soon 
gave rise to such a schism, as rendered Mahomedans as rancorous 
and fierce against each other as the professors of the Christian faith 
have been, when thepurity of their religion was sullied by the dog- 
mas of assuming men. 

" The Persians acknowledge that the Mosaic was the true religion 
before Christ, whom they also believe to be a true prophet and 
teacher sent from God ; but that the religion he taught was con- 
tained in a book, which, at Mahomet's coming, was taken by the 
angel Gabriel into heaven, and the Koran brought down in its 
stead. They also, like the other Mahometans, say, that Jesus Christ 
did not die upon the cross, but as he was going to his crucifixion, 
he was invisibly translated to heaven ; and that Judas being mira- 
culously brought thither in his place, his face appeared like that of 
Christ, and he was crucified in his stead ! ! Thus they confess the 
truth of our Saviour's mission, but mingle almost every thing relat- 
ing to him with extravagant fictions. " — Sir Wm. Jonas. 

EUROPE GENERALLY. 

A. German Author, who has lately published some statistical 
observations respecting the state of Europe, says, that it contains 
171,395 square German miles, of which France either governs 
directly or protects 38,893 ; that it contains 182,599,000 inhabi- 
tants, of which 37,050,000 obey France, or enter into its Federal 
system ; that there are in Europe 2,549,836 soldiers, of which 
France can put 854,800 in movement. The total revenues of Eu- 
rope he estimates at 1,173,750,000 florins, of which France receives 
about 700,000,000 of livres. 



SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 



THOMAS JEFFERSON, L. L. D. President of the United States, 
JOHN ADAMS, L. L. D. late President of the United States. 



A 

New- York. 
Abeel, Garnt B. 
Angelis, Gaetano, M. D. 
Ayers, Win. & Margaret 
Arcularius, Charles 
Ayres, David 
Aycrigg, Benjamin 
Alston, Isaac 
Arrowsmith. Edmund 
Amie, Gahen 
Ackcrman, Mary 
Amerman, Abraham B. 
Austin, William 
Arnold, Leri 
Angevine, Gilbert 
Ambrose, John 
Angus, William 
Askin, John 
Amie, Mary 
Allen, Richard 
Adams, Samuel 
Angevine, James 
Achesoii, William 
Adams, Thomas G. 
Aaron, Henry 



Philadelphia. 
Auner, Peter 
Ashman, James 
Allen, Howard 
Ashburner, John 
Askin, John 
Avery, Charles 
Anderson, Charles 
Addis, Daniel 
Addis, Amos 
AUen, jun. William. 



Albright, Michael 
Allen, George 
Andrews, Leonard 
Armstrong, James F. 
Anderson, Samuel 
Armstrong, John D. 

Lansmgburgh. 
At wood, Noel 

Nen -Brunswick. 
Ackerman, Ralph 
Agnew, Andrew 

Albany. 
Austin, Jeremiah 
Adams, Thomas 
Austin, William 
Andrew, John 

Schenectady. 
Aitkin, Mordecai 
Alexander, William 
Ayres, Isaac, & John Wianans 

Hudson. 
Avery, Asa, 
Allen, jun. Benjamin 
Austin, Abner 

Brooklyn. 
Arnold, William 
B 

New-York. 
Bailey, General Theodoras 
Bleecker, A. L. 
Bancker, Anna 
Buxton, Charles, M. D. 
Berte, Lewis 
Beatty, Samuel C. 
Brock, Thomas 
Bogert, jun. Nicholas 
Ballus, Asa 
Bayard, Elizabeth, 
Bush, David D^ 
Berry, Jacob 
3 c 



SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 



Bancker, Anne T. 
Boyd, Thomas 
Badgley, Isaac and Eliza 
Brundage, Edward 
Brown, James 
Brouwer, William 
Bagley, Thomas 
Buck, Daniel 
Brown, William 
Brady, Abraham 
Betagh James 
Barker, Aaron 
Badeau, William 
Boscawen, John 
Brasher, Ephraim 
Bulleriz, Rosett 
Benson, Samuel E. 
Burras, Benjamin V. 
Brown, Ebenezer 
Boyle, Jonathan 
Butler, William 
Brisbane, William 
Blake ly, John S. 
Brinckly, William 
Berrian, George 
Buckmaster, George 
Badeau, William 
Belleville, Samuel R. 
Bancker, Wm. Stephen S. 
Bourdman, John 
Bridges, Thomas 
Brestesca, Lewis A. 
Boyce, Isaac 
Blossom, Betsy 
Barker, David 
Braine, Abraham L„ 
Bloomer, Michael 
Butterworth, Henry 
Busby, John 
Ball-. Charles 
Brodie, William 
Brinsford & Jackson 
Brodie, Alexander R. 
Bellamy, Thomas 
Blackburn, William 
Benedict, James 
Bloodgaod, John 
Bun ill, Ebenezer 
Bianch, John H« 
Birdsall, Joseph C. 
Bell, Abraham 



Boyle, Mary 
Brownell, John 
Bleecktr, Frederick D. 
Brown, Wheeler 
Bethune, Divie 
Bogart, H. 
Broadhead, John C. 
Butler, John 
Becanon, Philip, esq. 



Philadelphia. 
Butler, The hon. Pierce 
Butler, Captain Ezekiel 
Brown, William, M. D. 
Ball, Joseph 
Burgess, M. & H. 
Brown, William W. 
Bender, Miss Mary 
Browne, William W. 
Beck, Henry A. 
Bastian, Geo. 
Burgess, Hannah & Mary 
Beatty, David 
Brown, Joseph D. 
Barry, Mrs. Sarah 
Brown, Mary 
Backhouse, Ann 
Booth, Geo. 
Bartholomew, Edmund 
Borne, Jeremiah 
Brientnal, David 
Black, James 
Battin John 
Bell, Henry 
Brocar Francis 
Blame Joseph 
Bryan Joseph 
Bevin, jun. Philip 
Bunting, John 
Betts, Ebenezer 
Bunn, Seely.V.D.M. 
Barclay, Andrew C. 
Bryant, MordecaiY.-^M.P.F.S* 
Bisrr, William 
Burn, William 
Barton, Gilbert L, 
Boater, Daniel 



SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 



Albany. 
Beekman, Hannah 
Burnett, Aaron 
Bell, James 
Burnett, Margaret 
Boyd, John L. 
Bratt, GerritT. 
Brotherton, Isaac 
Bisban, Luther 
Burrows, Samuel T. 
Brown, Jonathan R. 
Bennett, Aaron 

Lansingburgh. 
Burr, Jonathan 
Burt, Asa 

Troy. 
Burritt, Ely, M. D. 
Bardsle, Lester 
Bushnell, James 
Boyce, Stephen 
Bennett, Henry 
Brainerd, Joseph S. 
Barnard, Theodore 
Bragg, Peleg 

Schenectady. 
Bowne, Gabriel H. 
Boynton, Col. Abel 
Banister, Cranmer 
Brower, Peter 
Babbit, Luther 

Utica. 
Baldwin, rev. Amos G. 

Athens. 
Basset, Benoni 

Hudson. 
Brower, Samuel 
Bosworth, Jabez 
Bowman, Nathaniel 

Neto-Brunswick. 
Boggs, Esq. Robert 
Bray, Esq. John 
Brognard, Francis H„ 
Butler, John 

Elizabeth- Town, 
Britten, Elihu 
Baldwin, David C, 
Bedford, Aaron 

Brooklyn. 
Bond, William 
Back, Margaret 



Trenton. 
Bucknum, John 
Bellerjeau, Daniel 
C 
Nezv-York. 
Clock, Abraham 
Crookes, John 
Cannon, Abraham 
Carmer, Nicholas 
Crichton, James 
Chapin, Eli 
Conklin, Joseph 
Craig, Mary 
Cadmus, Peter 
Campbell, John 
Clowes, Timothy 
Cowan, William 
Cunningham, James 
Craig, R. 

Colbert, John William 
Cammann, Mrs. Maria 
Caher, Charles 
Clossey, John 
Clapp, William 
Cook, Silas 
Clapp, Philip 
Chase, William 
Canthers, George 
Carson, John 
Cooper, Benjamin 
Cowperthwait, Benjamin f5» 
Cowperthwait, John K. 
Chase, Ammi 
Charles Ann 
Cox, Charles 
Crown, John 
Cherrish, Jane 
Cunningham, Patrick 
Crane, Mathias 
Corwin & Ames, 
Cuningham, Moses 
Coffin, Alexander 
Challen, William 
Crommelin, R. 
Cook, Captain Asher 
Cargill, William 
Clinch, John 
Coldwell, George 
Carter, John 
Craig, John 
Chesterman, James 



SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 



Carman, Samuel 
Covenhoven, Jacob 
Carson, John 
Clark, Samuel 
Colter, Mark 
Coven hoven, Nicholas 
Copland, George R. 
Crone, David 



Philadelphia. 
Cohen, Rev. Jacob, D. D. 
Corfield, Esq. Edward D. 
Clopp, Mary 
Cheramy, Francis 
Clark, Jane 
Clement, Samuel T. 
Caldwell, Sus n C. 
Conrad, Mathew 
Carteret, Joseph W. 
Culvert, Nathaniel 
Ciowley, James 
Crowley, Timothy 
Corry, Benjamin L, 
Colhound, William 
Ci.-irke, Edward 
Carpenter, John 
Collings, Richard 
Crumback, Godfrey 
Combs, Sarah 
Coit, Gabriel 
Clotworthy, John 
Cahil, Edward 
Clawges, sen. Joh» 
Courtney, Joseph 
Carrigan, Jacob 
Cameron, John 
Clark, John 
Cope, Godfrey G. 
Clark, Joseph 
Carmalt, Thomas S, 
Coulston, Israel 
Clark, Mary 

Albany f 
Crannel, William Winslow 
Crane, Ambrose 
Crane, Rhodolphus 
Cunningham, Michael 
Clark, John 
Camming, William 
Carson. Thomas 



Chestney, James 
Cosligan, Francis 
Carlow, Uriah I. 
Clark, Lewis 

Troy. 
Christie, Robert 
Crow, Elijah 
Chase, Philip 
Coleman James 
Camp, Henry D. 
Crafts, Moses 

Athens. 
Calkins, William 

Hudson. 
Coleman, William H. 
Clark, Peter 
Cneny, Abiel 
Cruttenden, Leveret 
Chariot, Enoch 
Condit, Samuel H. 

New Brunswick. 
Cook, Wiiliam 
Carman, P. 
Conklin, James 

Elizabeth Town. 
Crane, Isaac 
Carman, Richard 

Trenton. 
Cain, Thomas 

Brooklyn. 
Cuscaden, Alexander 
D 
New-York. 
Denison, Henry 
De Castro, Dr. Peter Paul 
Davrson, William 
Davis, David 
Delamater, Jane 
Davis, John 
Demarest, Peter 
Devoise, Charles 
Delezenne, Joseph C. 
Dob, Elias 
Dingee, Robert 
Davis, Ann 
Doughty, John 
Dehart, Desire 
Debow, Andrew 
Dunn, Josiah 
Doughty, Samuel 
De Butts, Captain Elias 



SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 



Disoway, Israel 

Doyle, Moses 

Dougherty, John 

Degroat, Richard M. 

Dodge, John 

Dickinson, Thomas 

Dandy, Timothy 

Dona van, Wdliam 

Dunn, Enoch 

Deitz, John 

Dillon, Robert 

Demarest, Andrew 

Davis, Samuel 

De La Pierre, Bartholomew, esq. 

Duffie, Ross 

Dikeman,John 

De Groat, Abraham 

Dennis, John 

Ducornau, T. P. jun. 

Demilt, Isaac 

De Graw, Aaron 



Philadelphia. 
Dale, Commodore Richard 
Delahunt & Doyle 
Davis, Evan 
Drew, Nathaniel 
Diehl, jun. Nicholas 
Dickinson, Philemon 
Duponceau, Peter S. 
Dilworth, Thomas 
Dixey, William 
Dange), Mary 
Dilworth, William 
Davis. Isaac 
Dexter, Richard 
Douglass, John 
Dugan, Anthony 
Dueye, Jicob 
Dorsey, Thomas 
Dean, jun. Alexander 
Davis, Daniel S. 
Dickson, William 
Delamater, Elizabeth 
Dutton, William Jones 
Davis, William 
Dutterar, John 
Dotterer, Henry 



Albany. 
Donnelly, Captain Henry 
Dunbar, jun. Robert 
Do'e, George 
Dawson, Richard 
Duncan, Thomas 
Dunlap, James 
Duff, Patrick 

Lansinvburgh, 
Dickinson, Miss Charlotte 
Dale, David 

Troy. 
De Camp, Henry 
Davison, Hezekiah 
Doan, David 
Drake, Samuel 
Dowd, Galen 

New Brunswick. 
Day, Samuel H. 

Trenton. 
Dickinson, Philemon 

Elizabeth Town. 
Dayton, E. B. 
Dayton, Hon. Jonathan 

Schenectady. 
Duane, Delia 
De Graf, Esq. Isaac 
Dunaway, William 
Athens. 
Day, Asa 

1 Hudson. 
Davis, Mary Ann 
Denison, Andrew 
Dobbs, Abraham 
Dewitt, Henry, j un. 
Day, Ithama H. 

Brooklyn. 
Dikeman, Jane, and Elizabeth 

Pine, 1 copy 
Degraw, Isaac 

E 
New- York. 
Ellis, Richard 
Erwin, John M. 
Evisson, Jacob 
Edric, Adeline 
Eymar, Joseph 
Evans, fames 
Ely, William Brewster 
Ely, Abijah Peck 



SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 



Elliot, James 
English, John 



Philadelphia. 
Eisenhut, Andrew, jun# 
Estill, James B. 
Edwards, John 
Eglee, J. 
Eccles, James 
Ecky, John,jun. 
Eggers, Jacob 
Ewing, George 
Egert, George, jun. 
Evans, Lewis 

Albany. 
Everson, Matthew 
Elliot, James 
Ennalls, Henry 
Elwyn, John 
Ellison, William 

Athens. 
Evans, Roger C. 
Evarts, Joel 

New Brunswick. 
Egerton, Matthew 
Eastburn, Robert, jun. 

Elizabeth Town. 
Egbert, Enos 

Trenton. 
Edwards, Thomas Moore 
F 
New- York. 
Frazer, Alexander 
Force, Isaac 
Ferguson, William 
Frost, James 
Farrington, Benjamin 
Ford, Joseph 
Freeland, Jacob 
Fowler George W. 
Foo«, Henry 
Freeborn, Thomas 
Frisbie, Dan B. 
Ferris, Edward 
Ferguson, Alexander 
Frier, John 
Fairchild, Tftomas 



Ford, Oliver L. 
Ferdon, Thomas 
Fosbrook, W. 
Frazer, Robert 
Fraser, David 
Fosdick, Lodowick 
Freelon, Mark 
Ferris, James 
Forrester, Andrew 



Philadelphia. 
First, William 
Free, Amey 
Fitler, George 
Field, John 
Fraley, Jacob 
Frazer, James P. 
Forbes, Robert 
Fa'ker, George 
Foulke, Mary 
Fortune, Walter 
Freeland, Mark 
Fest& Osier 
Folwell, Richard 
Fenton, Andrew 
Fry, Joseph 

Albany. 
Farrell, Philip 
Fry, Joseph 
Field, William 
Field, David 
Flack, Michael 
Fisher, Henry 

Schenectady. 
Ferrell, John 

Hudson. 
Fellows, Pamela 
Fish, Sidney 
Frisbee, Ebenezer 
Frisbee, Samuel 
Fulton, Samuel 
Fuller, Erastus 
Fellows, Nathaniel 
Field, Thomas 
Freelon, Mark 
Ferris, James 

■Brooklyn, 
Foster, Rev. Everson, A. M. 



SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 



G 

New-York. 
Gelston M. 
Green, William 
Griffiths, Catherine 
Griffin, John 
Gaston, William 
Goodrich, Samuel 
Geib, John, jun. 
Geery, Samuel 
Geery, James 
Geery, Joseph 
Garrett, Jesse 
Gomperts, Miss B. 8c H. 
Gay, Kirkpatriek 
Griffiths, Griffith P. 
Graham, George 
Gandy, Henry 
Good, William 
Garrisson, Isaac 
Gibson, William 
Goetz, Leonard 
Grunoah, David 
Griffiths, Joseph W. 
Guion, John 
Godden, Thomas 
Griffin, Henry 
Groshong, William 
Guion, Monmouth H. 
Gilbert, Edward 
Gorham, Stephen 
Gedney, Samuel 
Griffin, John 
Gilkison, James 
Greenwood, Clark 
Gallaher, William 
Grant, Richard & Turell 
Glass, John 
Green, James W. 
Gibson, John W. esq. 
Griffen, John 
Goodwin, John 
Ganong, Mrs. Mary 
Groshong, William 
Griswold, Levi 



Philadelphia. 
Green, Rev. Ashbel,D. D. 
Green, Rev. Lemuel, D. D. 
Greves, Daniel 



Gould, Calvin 
Gilbert, Jacob 
Gardner, Benjamin 
Grant, William 
Graba, Philip 

Albany. 
Graham, Elizabeth 
Gansevoort, Conrad 
Gaylord, Amos 
Gleason, Thomas F. 
Golberg, J. C. 
Gilbert, James 
Guest, William J. 
Goodrich, B. 
Gourlay, James 
Goodwin. Eldad F. 
Gibbons, James 

Lansingburgh. 
Gaston, Isaac V. 
Goewey, Peter D. 

Troy, 
Greenman, Josiah 

Schenectady. 
Groesbeck, Walter 
Gaily, Robert 
Goodrich, Abraham 

Athens. 
Gilbert, Aaron 

Hudson. 
Gantz, Paul 
Gulnack, Contine 
Groat, Henry P. 
Gillet, Nancy 
GiiFord, Samuel 
Gridley, Ira 

New-Brunswick. 
Gibbons, Peter 

■Brooklyn. 
Garrison, John, esq. 
Gray, James 

East New- Jersey* 
Gray, Isaiah 

H 

New-York. 
Hinchman, Jared 
Heath, Thomas 
Helms, Charles 
Hardenbrook, Abel 
Henry, Walter M. 
Henderson, Nathan 
Hawke, Robert 



SUBSCRIBERS' NJMES. 



Howel, Richard 
Hailmbeck, Mrs. Margery 
Ha! I, Stephen 
Hinsdale, Horace 
Hardenbrook, David 
Hughes, Captain Henry 
Harp, Henry 
Hooper, George 
Harris, Thomas 
Hamiil, Henry 
Henyon, Isaac 
Horn, John 
Hyde, Benjamin 
HiUiker, John 
Hare, Samuel 
Hvatt, Josnua 
Hennigar, John 
Halstead, Andrew L. 
Haviland, Jonathan Jj 
Hyslop, Charles 
How land, Reuben 
Hasam. Thomas 
Hudson, Laac 
Hazard, Mori is, 
Hubbell, Abel 
Hart, Abijah 
Harris, Jacob 
Haskett, John 
Hunter, William T. 
Hunter, William J. 
Hamiil, Robert 
Hoffman, Peter 
Hoffman, James H. 
Hoyt, Ralph 
Howell, Edward, jun. 
Henry, Doctor Samuel 
Hunter, Henry 
Hutchison, George 
Henry, Captain Charles 
Hall, Mrs. Jane 
Hendricks, John 
Henion, reier 
Holden, Asa 



Philadelphia. 
Hurley, Rev. >,iuhael 
Heirenstein, Rev. Samuel 
Harvey, Samuel 



Hood, John M'Clellan 
Hunt, John 
Hunt, Jonathan 
Hodgdon, Samuel 
Hodge, Andrew 
Harland, John 
Hassinger, Jacob 
Hall, Thomas M. 
Howard, Caleb Newbold 
Hodgson, Robert 
Hesser, John G. 
Hoopes, Israel 
Hughes, Daniel 
Hutchison, William 
Hassall, Joseph 
Han sell, John 
Holdernesse, William 
Hamel, Rebecca 
Hazelton, Isaaih 
Havin, Robert, jun. 
Heaton, Tuttle 
Hunert, John 
Hardy, John C. 
Howard,- Susanna 
Harrison, Mrs. Sarah A. 
Heath, Joseph 
Haars, Christian 
Hope, George T. 
Hartline, John 
Henry, Joseph 
Hoffman, Isaac 
Higday, George 
Hera, John 
Hammond, Elijah 
Hiness, Maria 
Hall, Ezekiel 
Himes, Henry 
Heyberger, George 
Henderson, John 

Albany. 
Hansen, J. esq. 
Harbeck, Henry 
Henn, Daniel H, 
Henry, John 
Hart, Miss Lorana 
Hatch, Sears 
Hrir.d, Aaron 
Holkins, Abel D. 
Hewson, Thomas 
Hooker, James 



SUBSCRIBERS' NAM MS. 



Hewson, Casparus 
Humphrey, Barnet C. 
Hanl«n, Thomas 

Lansingburgh. 
Hickok, Samnel 
Hale, Eber 
Haugzs, George 

Troy. 
Hoar, Samuel 
Hutchinson, Stacy 
Hollister, Jesse 
Higbie, Benjamin 

Schenectady. 
Haidock, Michael C. 
Horsfall, William T. 
Hows, Benjamin 
Henyon, Isaac 

Athens. 
Hamilton, George Clinton 
Howland, Elizabeth 
Hudson. 
Hubbill, Levi 
Hunt, Alpheus M. 
Hallinbeck, Casper 
Hyatt, Ann Catherine 
New-Brunswick . 
Hunt, Mary E. 
Henry, John 
Hicks, Benjamin 

Elizabeth Town. 

Hendricks, Luther B. 

Hays, William T. 

Hatfield, Oliver 

Brooklyn. 

Hilton, B. 

Harris, Sarah 

Harris, William 
IJ 
New-York. 

Judson, Lewis 

Jenkins, Mrs. 

Idley, Ann Eliza 

Jenkins, James 

Johnston, John R. 

Jackson, William 

Inslee, Zebulon 

Jackson, Samuel 

Johnston, Mrs. Jane 

Jackson, Robert 

Johnson, William 

Jackson, Ephraim 



Jobes, Samuel 
James, Roderick 
Jackson, Tamer 
Jackson, Jane 
Ivers, Charles W. 
Joraleman, Thomas 
June, Anna 
Jumel, Eliza 
Jones, Morris 
Isaacks, S. M. 
Isherwood, mrs. F. 
Jeroleman, Jacob 
Jaques, John 



Philadelphia-. 
Jackson, David 
Jones, Isaac R. 
James, Mrs. Elizabeth 
Jackson, James 
January, Elizabeth 
Johnston, James 
James, Martha 
Iredell, Robert, jan. 
Jobson, Charles 
Johnson, Mrs. Elizabeth 

Albany. 
Jones, William W. 
Johnston, Jeremiah 
Jenkins, David 
Jenckes, Ahab 
Jones, Elisha 
Ives, Joseph 
Jones, Miles 

Troy. 
Johnson, Ben 
Johnson, David B. 

Sctenectady. 
Joyce, Thomas 

Hudson. 
Jenne, Seth 
Johnson, William 

Trenton, 
Jones, Benjamin 
K 
New-York, 
Kitchel, Henry 
Knapp, Eli 
Knapp, Josiah 
Knapp, Eben 
Knapp, Charlotte 
3 © 



SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 



Ketcham, Jonas 
Kehoe, John 
Kline, Leonard 
King, John 
Kipp, Bartholomew 



Philadelphia, 
Kerr, James 
Keppele, Sarah C. 
Kelly, Thomas 
Keyser, Jacob 
Kauck, Christain 
Keller, Adam 
Kelly, Frances 
Keyser, Joseh 

Albany. 
Keeler, Mary F. 
Kittredge. Joseph D. 

Troy. 
Kimberly, John 

Schenectady. 
Knowlton, Robert 

Hudson. 
Kellogg, Lyman 

New-Brunswick. 
Kelsey, John 

L 
New-York. 
Lawson, William 
Lecouhte, Susan 
Leonard, Ophelia 
Lewis, Jonathan 
Letts, William 
Lavana, Nancy 
Lawrence, Cornelia B. 
Laird, John A. 
Lorton, William 
Lock wood, James 
Law, Mrs. Lucretia 
Lear, John 
Laing, Peter 
Lyon, James 
Lyons, Mrs. Nicholas B. 
Lyon, Daniel 
Leach, Adam 
Lambert, Philip 
Lawrence, John 
Love, David 
Littell, George 



Lord, Joseph 
Lawrence, William 
Lamphear, Maxon 
Leech, Richard 
Linkletcr, James 
Leabech, John C. 
Le Fort, John 
Lawrence, William 



Philadelphia 
Lindsay, Samuel 
Levy, Aaron 
Leak, Samuel D. 
Lippincott, Jane A. 
Lewis, Samuel N. 
Lewis, Mordecai 
Lievely, John 
Lace, Willtam 
Leatherman, Jane 
Letherborrow, Deborah 
Lish Henry 
Low, John 
Lozier, Mary 
Latimer, Thomas 
Little, Devid 
Lewis, John 

Albany. 
Lansingh, Abraham A. 
Lamoree, James 
Ludlow, Joseph 
Lewis, John W. 

Lansing burgh, 
Ladue, James 

Troy 
Lynds, Elam 

Schenectady. 
Ludlow, John 
Leslie, George 
Lusher, Eri 

Hudson. 
Landon, George 

New- Brunswick* 
Louzada, David 
M 
New- York. 
Mitchill, Major Jonas 
Massonneau, William N. 
M'Murray, Dr. James Farrel 
M'Connell, James 



SUBSCRIBERS* NAMES. 



Marsh, M. 
M'Leod, Hugh 
Miers, Margaret 
Moore, Joseph 
Michaels, Jacob W. 
M'Leod, Maria A. 
Montayne, Vincent D. L. 
Morris, John 
M'Farlane, John 
M'Dowgall, N. 
Morris, Jediah 
Moore, Enoch 
M'Donogh, Patrick 
M'Gluen, Patrick 
N'Kay, John 
Moor, Thomas 
Myers, James J. 
M'Kay, Patrick 
Marschalk, Christian 
Marinus, Adrian 
Maxwell, Jacob 
Marsh, Moses 
Munson, Reuben 
Morehead, Robert 
Morrell, Richard 
Merry, Edward 
Marsh, Amariah 
Moffit, Charity 
M'Veagh, William 
Mulford, David 
Morgan, John 
M'Creary, David, 
M'Crea, Mary 
M'Lean, John 
Morris, Pearson 
Mott, John 

Morrell, Robert 
Mount, John 

Marshall, Joseph 

Miller, Joseph Y. 

M'Kelvey, John 

Mott, Jacob 

McCarthy, Charles 

Mackay, James 

Menger, Lewis 

Meinell, Thomas 

Maurice, John 

Maynard, Tyler, esq, 

Meeks, Joseph 

Mahany, Mathias 

Marsh, John 



Morrison, James 
M'Farlane, John 
Mavtling, William 
M'Pherson, Charles A. W. 
Murdock, John B. 
Mather, Dan 
Mott, Joseph 
M'Grath, John 
Mitchell, William 
Meeks, James 



Philadelphia. 
Macpherson, General William 
Macferran, Samuel, esq. 
Maxfield, Sarah 
Middleton, Aaron 
Millard, Benjamin 
M'Cawley, Peter 
Mdler, Archibald 
Mason, William 
M'Farland, John 
Montgomery, William 
M'Elwee, Charles B. 
Milligan, James 
Malambre, Jacob 
Miller, Gurdon S. 
Mory, Mrs. Elizabeth 
Macdougall, George Gordon 
M'Naught, Archibald 
Martin, William 
Miller, Philip 
M'Call, Margaret 
Martin, John 
Moore, Robert 
Morrison, Captain William 
M'Laughlin, George 
M'Dowell, John 
Mayfield, Catherine 
M'Fee, John 
Moore, George D. 
Muncas, William 
Mifflin, Benjamin 
Moore, James A. 
Meredith, Rachael 
M'Carty, William 
Mealy, Rebecca 
Marshall, Susanna 
M'Calla, Alexander, esq 
Melcher, Horatio L. 



SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 



Meeser, Maria 
Maas, David J. 
Morgan, Thomas 
Malin, John 
Miiliman, John 
M'Minn, William 
M'Kee, David 
M'Kenzie, Mr. 
Marshall, Amaziah 
Manlove, Boaz 
Mason, Isaac N. 
Millman, Jessy 
Miller, Levi 
Manlove, William 
Miller, Jacob 
Mirkill, John 
Mitman, Philip 
Murray, Michael 

Albany. 
Meier, Mrs. Mary 
Mancius, W. 
Mancius, J. 
Munsell, William W. 
Merrell, Joseph S. 
Marshall, Joseph 
M'Intire, John 
Miller, Philip 
Mallory, Daniel F. 
Morgan, Lawrence 
May, William 
Mitchill, Isaac 
Morris, Joseph 
M'Lachlan, Peter 
Martling, John 
Morrison, Jacob 
Mounsey, Thomas 
Troy . 
Miles, Elisha, M. D. 
Marsh, Joshua 
A/iller, Abijah 
Mead, J. W. 
M'Cullen, Robert 

Schenectady. 
M'Clyman, William 
Mynderse, Josiah 
M'Clure, Jame 

Ath&is* 
Morton, Reuben 
Macy, Daniel 

Hudson* 
Micthcll, Asa 



Muir, Ephraim 
Muldon, Michael 

New-Brunswick. 
Morris, Robert 
Middleton, William 

Elizabeth Town* 
Morrell, Rev. Thomas 
M'Dowell, Rev. John 
Mann, Isaac 
Mayo, Edward 

Trenton. 
Mulford, Jacob 

Harlccm. 
Mottjoseph 

N 
New- York. 
North, Col. Benjamin 
Nugent, James 
Nichols, Samuel 
Nicoll, George 
Newcomb, Obadrah 
Nathan, Seixas 
Nexsen, William 
Nuttman, Ebenezer B. 
Newland, Alexander 
Nibalaw, Patrick 



Philadelphia. 
Nagel, Charles 
Nelson, Jane 
Nathan, Benedict 
Nichols, Enoch 

Albany. 
Norman, Joseph 
Noon, D. 

Troy. 
Niven, Daniel 
Nelson, Walter 

Schenectady, 
Newton, Thomas 

Athens. 
Northrop, Isaac 

Elizabeth Town, 
Nutman, Oliver 
O 
New-York, 
\ Oothout, Mrs. H. 
Obert, Peter 



SUBSCRIBERS' MAMES. 



Oakley, David 
Oliver, Thomas 
O'Hare, Hugh 
Oblenis, Bernard 
Owens, James 
O'Neil, Charles 
Ogden, Mathias- 
Osborn, Wines 
Osborn, William 
Oakden, Joseph 
O'Brien, William 
Ortley, Henry 
Ogden, Abraham 



Philadelphia. 
Old, John 

Albany. 
Osborn, Aaron 

Troy. 
Ostrander, Edward 

Elizabeth low*. 
Oliver, James 

P 
New-York. 
Peck, Rev. Pheonis 
Perry, Robert, esq. 
Pell, Caleb 
Purdy, Josiah 
Price, Joseph W. 
Purdy, Israel 
Payne, Daniel 
Phelan, Eliza 
Palmer, Roger R. 
Pullis, Thomas 
Perry, Robert 
Paxton, John A. 
Partelow, Nathan 
Pelletreau, Francis 
Pickens, James 
Petty, Phinehas 
Pelg, Phinehas 
Powell, Peter 
Parke, Hannah S. 
Peck, Sands F. 
Piatt, Thomas 
Puckering, Robert 
Price, Benjamin 
Prendergast, Richard C, 
Place, Smjth 



Puntine, William M, 

Pelletreau, Elias 

Post, Henry 

Parrot, William 

Post, John J. 

Patten, James 

Pell, Jafeesh 

Palmer, William 

Paul, Tohn 

Persiany, Luke 

Pray, Mrs, Jane 

Patterson, Morris 

Phelan, John 

Plummer, William 

Proal, Peter 

Parkhurst, Jabezr 

Potter, Gilbert 

Purves, Wilson & Laing, 3 copies 



Philadelphia. 

Pedersen, P. His Danish Majes- 
ty's Consul General 

Pilmore, Rev. Joseph, D. D. 

Patterson, Hamilton 

Painter, Philip 

Pool, Joseph 

Park, Samuel 

Piatt, George 

Philips, John 

Page, Ann 

Pons, Jo'm and Elizabeth 

Plocher, Jacob J. 

Polis, George 

Premier, Jacob 

Premier, John 

Plotts, John 

Phile, David 

Porter, Elizabeth 

Peres, Peter, M. D. Surgeon iti 
the late Amreican army 
Albany. 

Phelps, John S. 

Packard, Isaac 

Pierson, A. 

Parmele, Sally N. 

Patterson, William 

Pomeroy, Noah 

Pangburn, Solomori 

Plume, Garrit 



SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 



Troy. 
Pierce, Ebenezer, jun. 
Parker, Captain Joshua 
Phelps, Caleb 
Pierce, Josiah P. 

Schenectady. 
Priestly, William 

Hudson. 
Plum, Eunice 
Peet, Griffith 
Paddock, Laban 
Potter, Herman B. 
Powell, Thomas 

Kent- Brunswick. 
Pierson, Philip, JO copies 

Trenton. 
Palmer, Phoebe 
Potts, John 

Elizabeth Town. 
Price, Eliphalet 

Q 

New-York. 
Quiz, Cornelius 

Albany. 
Quackenboss, Henry 
R 

Ncw-York* 
Runkel, Rev. William 
Ryerss, John P. A. M, 
Ray, Andrew 
Ruckel, J. 
Rogers, Joshua M. 
Roosevelt, Peter 
Robinson, Peter P. 
Riker, Peter 
Raymond, Peter 
Rose, Peter 
Richard, S. 
Rosegrantz, William 
Remmey, John 
Roe, Benjamin 
Rose, Miss Ann 
Ryker, John 
Roosevelt, William 
Roberts, Robert 
Reynolds, Alexander 
ReynoIds,A.G. 
Riker, Abraham 
Rosdale, R. 
Ridabock, Charles 
Rcmaine, Nicholas 



Ruckel, John 
Ryer, Levi 
Russell, William 
Rodman, William 
Reas, Thomas 
Roberts, Mrs. Jane 
Randal, James 
Read, Alvan 
Russell, Robert M. 
Roome, Henry B. 
Rutter, Thomas 
Roberts, David 
Robertson, John 
Rhodes, Robert 
Rogers, Thomai 

Harleem, 
Randal, Jonathan 

Philadelphia. 
Rubicam, Charles 
Richards, John 
Rickey, Samuel 
Ridgeway, William 
Rappoon, Christopher 
Raybold, Jacob 
Ray bold, Joshua 
Ritter, Henry 
Ripperger, Conrad 
Roberts, Robert 
Rich man, Isaac 
Rauchenbworg, Ann 
Rice, Owen 
Ross, Benjamin 
Roberts, Elizabeth 
Rose, Thomas 
Ribaud, Joseph P. 
Reynolds, Joseph 

Albany. 
Rockwell, Samuel, student at law 
Randel, Daniel 
Ryckman, Cornelius 
Rathbone, William P. 
Russell, John 
Ross, Alexander E. 
Randolph, Jackson F. 
Russell, Caleb 
Russell, David 
Ralcliff, John R. 
Ruby, Christopher 

Lansingburgh. 
Rowland, Charles 



SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 



Troy. 
Reilay, John 

Schenectady. 
Rickard, Conrad 
Reynolds, John 
Rogers, James 
Rogers, Josiah 
Ranken, George 

Hudson. 
Richards, Enock 
Roraback, Uriah 
Robinson, Samuel 

New- Brunswick. 
Richmond, John 

Elizabeth Town. 
Rudd, Rev. John C. Rector of 

St. John's Church. 
Rosette, Abraham 

St. Croix. 
Robinson, Daniel, esq. 
S 
Naw- York. 
Strebeck, Rev. George, D. D. 
Saltus, Samuel 
Stewart, John G. 
Smith, James R. 
Smith, Arthur 
Steel, R. M. 
Scott, William 
Spader, Daniel 
Spinks, George 
Sutton, Henry C. 
Summers, Samuel G. 
Smith, Richard 
Strong, William 
Sanderson, Sarah 
Spingler, Miss Eliza 
Sexton, Abraham 
Sherman, Isaac 
Sutherland, Daniel 
Seahl, John 
Sypher, Peter William 
Saunders, Mrs. Mary 
Speaight, Charles 
Smith, Mc. P. 
Spelman, Phinehas 
Snow, Seba 
Street, William 
Shervrood, Andrew 
Smith, John 
Southwick, William 



ISouthwick, Mary Ana 
Sleight, John 
Smith, Solomon 
Sickles, Zachariah 
Soulhmayd, Samuel D. 
Sco veil, N.jun. 
Strang, Daniel 
Sickels, Garret 
Stewart, R. A. 
Stagg, Peter 
St. John, William 
Sayre, Joel 
Sherred, J. 
Smith, William 
Sanford, Samuel 
Scudder, John 
Scott. William 
Stacy, Mary 
Smith, D. 
Spencer, Thomas 
Stewart, Alexander M. 
Seaman, Joseph 
Scoles, John 

Philadelphia. 
Shippen, W. M. D. 
Skinner, Elizabeth 
Shipley, Thomas 
Simonton, J. W. 
Snyder, Henry 
Smith, Charles 
Sellers, Natham 
Stokes, James, jun. 
Simpson, David 
Simpson, Stephen 
Schreiber, Theodorus 
Stotesbury, Captain Arthur 
Sanders, Sarah 
Shull, Frederick 
Sims, Walter 
Simmons, David P. 
Stockton, William F. 
Scherzinger, John M. 
Stewart, James 
Sarazin, Maria 
Savage, John 
Sibber, John 
Snyder, William 
Shedacer, John 
Smith, Esther 
Stender, Eineer 
Shuster, David 



SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 



Somraer, John Jacob 
Stinemeta, William 
Stadling, Elizabeth 
Strong, William 

Albany. 
Stewart, Mary 
Smith, John 
Smith, Ann 
Sears, Richard 
Stanton, Thomas Wright 
Solomons, Levy 
Scoon, Walter 
Schuyler, Lucas 

Lansingburgk. 
Snow, Jeduthan 
Smith, David 

Troy. 
Sampson, John 
Stone, Isaac 
Smith, Nicholas 
Smith, George 
Southwick, Daniel 
Storer, Samuel 
Staples, Abraham 
Stoughton, John 
Stevens, Joshua 

Schenectady . 
Swits, Andrew 
Stewart, Thomas 
Sisson, Giles 
Slater, James 
Swits, Jacob 
Santvoord, Cornelius Z. V. 

Hudson. 
Stone, Silas 
Spoor, John 
Sterling, David 
Stanton, William 

Newark. 
Stockton, Catharine 

New- Brunswick. 
Sleight, John 

Elizabeth Town. 
Smith, Oliver 
Smith, Martha 
Skinner, Jonathan D. 
Jamaica. 
Schoonmakcr, Rev. William 

Brooklyn. 
Smith, Captain David 
Spence, Hugh 



T 

New-York. 

Tompkins, His Excellency Da- 
niel D. Governor of the State 
of New-York. 

Tillary, James, M. D. 

Townsend, Solomon D. 

Thompson, Ann & Jane 

Tremper, Michac' 

Thompson, Charles 

Twaddle, James 

Titus, Benjamin 

Tylee, N. 

Turner, Joseph 

Todd, Alexander 

Tasheira, Joseph 

Townsend, Richard 

Thompson, John 

Thorn, Stephen 

Tawzer, Esther 

T 'or, Stevenson 

Tuiij, Samuel 

Tucker, Daniel N. 

Turnbull, James 

Thorp, John B. 

Tinkir, Richard 

Truman, Clark 
* Ten Eyck, Nicholas 

Townsend, Solomon 

Tanner, J. W. 

Thomas, Thomas 

Tredwell, Henry 

Tripler, William 

Thomas, Owen 

Thorp, George B. 

Tinkey, Andrew 

Traphagen, John 



Philadelphia, 
Townsend, Dr. L. 
Thompson, Thomas 
Tomlinson, John 
Thomson, Mrs. Ann 
Thouron, E, 

Tremper, Master William 
Thompson, Mary 
Taylor, John 
Thompson, Benjamin A« 
Thomas, Enoch 
' Toland, Henry 



SUBSCRIBERS* NAMES. 



Tanner, I. W. 
Tatem, George P. 
Tanner, T. W. 

Albany, 
Thayer, Joseph 
Turner, John 
Todd, John 
Thorne, James, jun. 
Thompson, Thomas 
Trembly, Eliphalet 
Tucker, Wi'.Vun 

Lansingburgh, 
Turner, Thomas 

Troy. 
Tuttle, Norman 
Taylor, Samuel 

Schenectady. 
Teller, Henry R. esq. 
Tripp, Thomas B. 
U 
New-York. 
Urmy, John 

Philadelphia 
Urann, Mary Ann 
V 
Aew-York. 
Varick, Richard, esq. 
Van Verst, Walter 
Van Orden, David 
Valentine, Isaac 
Vanhouten, Rulef C. 
Verveelen, James 
Van Beuren, Peter I. 
Vreeland, John 
Valleau, Wesley 
Vandevoort, Benjamin 
Vincent, Abraham 
Van Gelder, David 
Van Gelder, Abraham, jun. 
Valentine, David 
Van Keuren, Hannah 
Van Wart, Eleanor 
Van Winkle, John S. 
Van Beuren & Schoonmaker 
Van Horn, Gerry, 



Philadelphia, 
Van Pelt, Peter 



Vanevour, Ead 
Vanderslice, George 
Vesey, Harriet 

Albany, 
Van Rensselaer, the Hon. Pet. S. 
Van Wie, Mrs. Margaret 
Van Loon, Jacob 
Vedder, Alexander 
Van Horn, James 
Vischer, Bastigan T. 
Vernon, John 
Van Buskirk, Isaac 
Troy, 
Vanderburgh, Mathevv 
Van Tine, John 
Van Vleck, Mathew 
Van Valkenburgh, Lambert 

Schenectady. 
Vrooman, John Jacob 
Van Ingen, William 
Veeder, Francis, and Son 
Van Ingen, Henry Glen 
Veeder, WillheUminus 
Van Beuren, Charles 
Van Vranken, Nicholas R. 
Vermulia, Adrian 

Bound Brook. 
Vail, Daniel 

New Brunswick. 
Van Aursdalen, Henry 
Van Deursen, John 
Van Nortwick, Christian H. 
Vanderbilt, Jeromus 
Van Deursen, William 
Van Horn, John 
Vandeventer, John 
Voorhis, John 

W 

New-York. 
Willetr, Honourable Marinus 
Williston, Rev. Ralph 
Willcocks, Major William 
West, Captain Abner 
White, Daniel 
Weeks, Ezra 
Walker, Joseph 
Wilson, Robert 
Westervelt, Catherine 
Waldron, Pheobe 
White, Francis 
3 e 



SUBSCRIBERS 1 NAMES. 



Walker, Thomas 

Watkins, Joseph 
Waring. Thomas 
Wade, Francis 

Williamson W.D. 

Willis, D.vid 
Walker. James 
Wight, Archibald 
Wheeler, Jacob 
Wallace, Charles S. 
Williams, Robert, jun. 
Woods, Hannah 
Wyam, Thomas 
Webb, Samuel 
Western, Thomas 
Warnow, Benjamin 
Williams, Cornelius T. 
Wright, John 
W r esterfield, Peter 
Wanmaker, Abraliam 
Wheal by, Frederick 
Whecder, Eliphalet 
Welsh, George J. 
Welsh, Robert W. 
Wallace, William 

Wheeler, Solomon 
Weed, Oliver 
Wtlliams. Cornelius 
Waterbury, William M. 
Woodruff, Israel 

Westervelt, Abraham 
Weeks, Stephen 

Weed, Ebenezer E. 

Wagner, George M. 

Wagner, George William 

Wes( field, John 

Weec, Charles W. 

Wilson, Abraham 

Wynkoop, Cornelius 

Winshell, James 

Williams Charles C, 

Wells, Wait, 2d. 

Willcox, Charles 

Woodruff, Aaron 

Wright, Andrew 

Wish art, Alexander 

Welsh, Robert 

Wragg, Elizabeth \ 

Westervelt, DanieJ 

Westerfield, John 



Wandell, A. 
Wagner, Geo. M. 



Philadelphia. 
Wylie, Rev. Samuel B. 
Woollelt, W. 
Wurts, William 
Wurts, Sarah 
Walker, John & Joseph 
Wis tar, John 
Waddell. H. L. 
Wood, Peter 
West, John 
Wiley, Robert 
Whilldin, Wilmon 
Wharton, Charles 
Wilson, Alexander 
Wolfe, Mary 

Wray, Catherine and Jane 
Woglom, Abraham 
Whiteman, John 
Wolfe, John 
Weyman, Jacob 
Whitehead, R. 

Albany. 
Wallace, Benjamin, esq. 
Wendell, Harmen 
Wilson, Mrs. Ann 
Wills, Ephraim 
Wilkens, John 
Wood, Joseph 
Williams, William W. 
Wilson, Samuel 
Way, Gideon 
Wilson, Benjamin 
Winne, William B. 
Weaver, Henry 
Ward, Daniel 
Wilson, George 

Lansingburgh. 
Wolcott, John 

Troy. 
Wilson, Nathaniel 
Willcox, Elijah 
Wendell, David S. 
Williams, Ezra 



SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 



Schenectady, 
Wiley, Susanna 

Athens. 
Witherell, Timothy 
Wheeler, William 

Hudson, 
Whiting, Wi'Uam 
Wheeler, Eliza 
Woodward, John 
White, Solomon 

Savanna. 
Woodruff, Israel 

New- Brunswick. 
Wyckoff, Peter 

Elizabeth Town, 
Wade, Elias 
Williamson, Isaac H. 
Wilt, Mr. Abigal 
Williamson, Mathias H. 
Wooley, David 
Woodruff, Andrew 
Whitlock, Henry 



Brooklyn. 
Weller, Frederick W. 
Y 
Philadelphia. 
Young, Thomas 
Young, Mary 

Albany. 
Yates, John B. 
Young, P*;ter, Pewterer 
Lansingburgh. 
Young, George 

Troy. 
Young, G. D. 
Youngs, Henry 

Schenectady. 
Yates, Honorable Joseph C. 
Yates, Mrs Ann 
Yates, Mrs. Henry, jun. 
New-York. 
Z 
Zabriskie, Andrew C. 



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